It is rare to visit an area so well preserved such as the Yokaichi district of Uchiko. The main street, over 600 meters long, is lined by more than 90 buildings, most of them erected during the Meiji Period, and a few are even older.

They all look beautiful and the houses are exquisite, because the town was rich, populated by wealthy merchants. At the time, Yokaichi was an important production center for high quality vegetable white wax, a type of wax made from the berries of the wax tree.

Yokaichi Old Town, Uchiko, Ehime

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Tanabata decorations