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      • Experience >
        • Pottery Workshops in Tajimi, Japan
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        • Restaurants
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    • Walking in Tajimi >
      • 01 Walking in Takata - Onada
      • 02 Walking in Tajimi - The Immovable Wisdom King
      • 03 Walking in Tajimi - Suigetsu Kiln
      • 04 Walking in Tajimi - North of Toki
      • 05 Modern day Nagase St. - flash backs from the past
      • 06 Around Oribe Street
      • 07 The Tajimi Ginza Arcade Area
      • 08 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 01)
      • 09 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 02)
    • Cycling in Tajimi
    • Ceramics >
      • The Story of Mino Ware >
        • The roots of the Mino ware renaissance
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 1)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 02)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 03)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 04)
        • Beyond Mino Ware (Part 05)
      • The ascending kiln
      • Kobe Kiln: Tradition-meets-innovation
      • A polar bear's pottery performance
      • Shiro Tenmoku (01): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Shiro Tenmoku (02): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Finland Meets Tajimi
      • Ceramic treats in Tajimi - a Mini Tour
      • Learning pottery at the Ho-Ca workshop
      • Master Potter Hidetake Ando
      • Brave New Pottery - 3rd Ceramics
      • English Guided Tours 2019
      • Ikuhiko Shibata - Not Your Ordinary Potter
      • Kasahara - the Tile Kingdom
      • The Mosaic Princess Tile Enthusiasts
      • Striking Gold iin Mino 2021
      • Toso - the Legacy of a Mysterious Master Potter
      • A Muromachi Style Kiln Firing
    • Food and Drink >
      • Food - Wild Yam a treat for the New Year
      • Food - Eel à la tajimienne
      • Drink - Sake in Tajimi
      • Drink - Sake. "Excellently Dry"
      • Food: Cook a local snack - Gohei mochi
      • Food: The History of the Gohei mochi
    • Life in Tajimi >
      • Tono-ben: Great Ice-breaker phrases for the traveler >
        • Tono-ben Karta - a card game
        • Tono-ben; Everybody Loves Fumi-chan
        • Learn Tono-ben (Karuta cards)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi: My Life in a Seemingly Ordinary Rural Town (Part 1)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 2): About a future where people live wherever they want
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 3): Now is the time to see the countryside
      • The Festival - Oh, What a Night!
      • The Life of an American Japanese
      • Festivals in Tajimi
      • 2018 in Tajimi - Visually
      • Film - A day in Tajimi
      • Virtual Travel - The day when Our World Shrank
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 01)
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 02)
      • Flower Viewing Beyond the Crowds
      • Manga: The Kappa Scene
      • Shidekobushi - the rare Magnolias of the Tono region
    • History >
      • A Failed Coup d'etat - And the Death of a Tajimi Samurai
  • エッセイ
    • 多治見ウォーキング >
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート1
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート2 不動明王の滝
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 高田/小名田 ​パート3 水月窯
      • 多治見歴史探索ウォーキング - 土岐川の北側
      • ながせ通りウォーキング 昔の姿に思いを馳せながら
      • おりべストリート周辺 - パート1
      • 多治見 銀座通り
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート1))
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート2)
    • 陶器・タイル >
      • シロクマの焼き物パフォーマンス
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 1)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 02)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 03)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 04)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 05)
      • 美濃焼ルネッサンスのルーツ
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART1
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART2
      • 登り窯
      • 焼き物の楽しみ方
      • 幸兵衛窯:伝統と革新の出会い
      • 多治見で作陶
      • 安藤日出武
      • タイルキングダム - 笠原町
      • 陶磁器の本拠地でグランプリを目指せ!
      • 柴田育彦 ボーダーレスな陶芸家
      • 新しい陶磁器産業の形
      • モザイクタイルプリンセス
      • フィンランドと多治見の出会い
      • 陶祖 - 謎めいた名工が遺したもの
      • 青山双渓氏、「白天目」の再現に挑んだ窯
    • 食べる・飲む >
      • 多治見で乾杯!
      • 五平餅を食べられるお店と作り方
      • ウナギ・ア・ラ・タジミエンヌ
      • 超辛口の日本酒への情熱
      • 多治見のお正月の自然薯料理
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 1
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 2
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 3
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 01)
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 02)
    • 夏祭り - なんて素敵な夜!
    • 人込みを避けてお花見を満喫しよう
    • 多治見のお祭り
    • シデコブシ 東濃地方の珍しい木蓮の花
    • ビジュアルで2018年の多治見を振り返ろう
    • 多治見の楽しい方言 東濃弁
    • バーチャル・トラベル
    • ビデオ - A DAY IN 多治見
    • 失敗に終わったクーデター
    • 2019年 多治見るこみち イングリッシュ・ガイドツアー
    • アメリカン・ジャパニーズとしての暮らし
    • やくならマグカップも:カッパが登場するシーン
    • 東濃弁でカルタ遊び
    • みんな大好きふみちゃん
    • 多治見でサイクリング
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05 - walking the nagase street
with an occational flashback to days past

Welcome back to our series of Walking in Tajimi. This time our course will guide you along the main shopping street in Tajimi, which was laid in the Nagase hamlet in 1887 at a safe distance from the Toki river, which kept flooding the old Shita-kaido highway by the river bank (on the right side of the river in the image below).​

Picture
We used some trickery to make Tajimi look like a model railway town. Today's tour ends at the bridgehead up to the left
Find you way using our landmarks

We have made a clickable map to help you orientate yourself during this walk. We use shops and other landmarks (purple markers) that are easy to find along your way. To see the legend, click the icon in the top left. You may also want to check out the historical walk in the previous article.
​

Walking towards nagase street from the station

If you follow our map you will first pass the Santos café, just after the Frante super market on your left hand side. Santos is one of my favourite places to enjoy a Tajimi style "morning" breakfast. Just after Santos you can find a shop ‘Fuji Aisu' to buy traditional Obanyaki (a small cake with a filling of your choice, such as sweet beans, custard cream, or choclate cream).

Continue down the street and turn to the left at the first crossing. The JA bank on your right is a good landmark.
​
Picture
The modern day arch over the Nagase street
You are now facing a large arch with the inscription "Nagase" in hiragana. There was a popular cinema theatre around here - the Bunka Gekijou (Culture Theatre). People would sit on tatami mats on the second floor, like in a kabuki theatre.​ 

Picture
This photo was shot at the same spot in Showa 40 (1965). Courtesy of the Tajimi City Library Archive (多治見市図書館郷土資料室所蔵)
We found an old photograph of the Bunka Gekijo (see above). The sign on top of the arch says "Nikkatsu Gekijou", however. Nikkatsu was a nationwide movie theatre company, but local people knew this theatre as the Bunka Gekijo.
Picture
Overview of of Tajimi in the early days of last century. Houses have slanted roofs, in contrast to today's flat building tops. Courtesy of the Tajimi City Library Archive (多治見市図書館郷土資料室所蔵)

Let us step further in time for a moment. Imagine how the city would look back in the Meiji era. We have travelled back to the first years of the 1900s. Many of the adults milling in the street are still wearing kimono. Horses are pulling wagons loaded with wares from the many kilns and ceramic factories. The industry is doing well and the city is thriving.
Picture
The image shows a part of the industrial area in the city. The coal fired ceramic factories dominate the view, their chimneys shooting up towards the sky everywhere. Courtesy of the Tajimi City Library Archive (多治見市図書館郷土資料室所蔵)

​There are tall chimneys pointing to the sky all around town. The new railroad from Nagoya has just been completed and Nagase Street becomes busy as the main road to the station. Technology is rapidly changing Japan after the feudal era. Motorized vehicles are beginning to join the horse pulled carts on the streets. Ceramics from Tajimi is selling well around the country, and traders frequent the many cafés and eel restaurants with their clients (eel is a local delicacy in Tajimi).

nagase street

We walk under the arch and continue until we see the Hiraku building on the right. Here you'll find a café quite different from the ones back in the Meiji and early Shōwa (1926–1989) days. It's a combined bookstore and café, where you can sample books and read for free, perhaps even while enjoying a glass of wine?​
​
Picture
We keep on walking and soon arrive at a five-way junction. If you turn around you will see the colorful tiled wall of the triangular Rose barbershop. To its right is the old Imawatari road, where goods were transported back and forth up to the famous Nakasendo Highway in the north. 
Picture
The tiled wall of the Rose barberhop. To the right, Imawatari road - it's history goes back to the Edo era.
Turn to the right and you will see an old stone road sign, with the inscription "Kokei Road". The Kokei hill was important to the farmers, who channelled water down to the farmlands in the valley.​​
​
Picture
On your left hand side you will find this road sign that says "Kokei Road". The road leads up to the Kokei mountain overlooking the valley.
We keep on walking and in a while we arrive at the Kappa park - it's on your right hand side. People come here to buy vegetables and various goods on the open air market. In the back of the park you will find a couple of very impressive Kappa made from ceramics.​
Picture
One of the kappa creatures waiting for you at the back of the Kappa park.
​The Kappa is a creature in Japanese folklore that lives in the river, and it can be very mischievous, even robbing young girls of their virginity. Here you will also find a large sign describing the popular animated TV-series "Let's Make a Mug Cup, too" about a group of pottery loving girls in Tajimi.

The roof shrine

But let's continue down the Nagase Street. In a while you will see the arch at the other end, but before that, let's make a stop by Tamaki-san's old liquor store. There is a shrine on the second floor of the building, a so-called Yanegami or "roof shrine". ​
​​
Picture
The Yanegami - or roof shrine - is visible in the top right of the image.
These kinds of Shinto shrines can only be found in this region of Japan. You may know that Shinto is the native religion of Japan, and that its spirits - human forefathers and others - dwell in nature everywhere. But here is one on a rooftop.​​ Let's stop here for a moment and imagine Tajimi in olden days again.
​
Picture
This shot of Nagase streets is not dated but seems to be from before the war, as the Tobacco shop sign (タバコ) is written from the right to the left, which was customary at that time. On the second floor there is a coffee shop. Further down the street, on the right hand side, we see a hardware store. Courtesy of the Tajimi City Library Archive (多治見市図書館郷土資料室所蔵)
The image below shows roughly the same view. One wonders what shops have come and gone here? Probably many, during the generations that past between the two images. 
Picture
Tamaki's shop is well worth a visit. The small, Showa style store is rustic and inviting. Tamaki holds jazz events here regularly. Don't miss the nice old beer advertisements high up under the ceiling inside. When I visited here once an old man stepped in with a poisonous Japanese viper in his hand, and asked Tamaki to put it in a bottle of alcohol! The resulting cocktail is supposed to be very potent.​
Picture
The Tajimi bridge crossing the Toki river. It was because of the frequent flooding here that the main road was moved to the Nagase hamlet.

​We continue down to the end of the street and turn to the right. You are now facing the Tajimi Bridge. Let's return a last time back to days past. The bridge you now see is earthen, and of a much more temporary nature. The Toki river was temperamental and when it flooded it would wash away the crossing - not even the Kappa could stop it.

​Again, we found an old image shot in this area.
Picture
According to the description of this photograph it was shot near the Tajimi bridge, possibly on the other side of the water. The woman must have passed long ago, but her beauty is timeless. Courtesy of the Tajimi City Library Archive (多治見市図書館郷土資料室所蔵)
​Before the Nagase Street was laid, the place we are standing now, is where the old Shita-kaido highway road ran by the top of the river bank. Next time we will visit Oribe Street in the centre of Tajimi on the other side of Tajimibashi bridge. Until then, happy walking!

notes

We have filmed a walkthrough of this course, which is available on the Tajimi Tourism Association YouTube channel.

maPS

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  • Home
  • About Tajimi
    • Tajimi Tourism Association
    • Free E-books
    • Navigate >
      • Plan your trip to Tajimi and Gifu
      • See >
        • Places
        • Historical figures
      • Mino Ware >
        • Famous kilns in Tajimi - a pottery town in Gifu prefecture, Japan
        • Mino ware ceramics and pottery Shopping
        • Pottery and ceramics galleries in Tajimi, Japan
        • Courses, equipment and stores for Potters
      • Experience >
        • Pottery Workshops in Tajimi, Japan
        • Pottery painting & Tile Art experiences in Tajimi
        • Fruit Picking in Tajimi
      • Eat & Drink in Tajimi >
        • Restaurants
        • Cafes & Confectionaries
        • Unagappa Sweets
        • Tajimi Yakisoba
      • Souvernirs
      • Currency Converter
      • Getting around
      • Lodging
    • Event Calendar
  • VR
    • Oribe's Dream - A VR Experience
    • Guided VR Tours
  • Manga
  • News index
  • Essays
    • Walking in Tajimi >
      • 01 Walking in Takata - Onada
      • 02 Walking in Tajimi - The Immovable Wisdom King
      • 03 Walking in Tajimi - Suigetsu Kiln
      • 04 Walking in Tajimi - North of Toki
      • 05 Modern day Nagase St. - flash backs from the past
      • 06 Around Oribe Street
      • 07 The Tajimi Ginza Arcade Area
      • 08 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 01)
      • 09 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 02)
    • Cycling in Tajimi
    • Ceramics >
      • The Story of Mino Ware >
        • The roots of the Mino ware renaissance
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 1)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 02)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 03)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 04)
        • Beyond Mino Ware (Part 05)
      • The ascending kiln
      • Kobe Kiln: Tradition-meets-innovation
      • A polar bear's pottery performance
      • Shiro Tenmoku (01): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Shiro Tenmoku (02): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Finland Meets Tajimi
      • Ceramic treats in Tajimi - a Mini Tour
      • Learning pottery at the Ho-Ca workshop
      • Master Potter Hidetake Ando
      • Brave New Pottery - 3rd Ceramics
      • English Guided Tours 2019
      • Ikuhiko Shibata - Not Your Ordinary Potter
      • Kasahara - the Tile Kingdom
      • The Mosaic Princess Tile Enthusiasts
      • Striking Gold iin Mino 2021
      • Toso - the Legacy of a Mysterious Master Potter
      • A Muromachi Style Kiln Firing
    • Food and Drink >
      • Food - Wild Yam a treat for the New Year
      • Food - Eel à la tajimienne
      • Drink - Sake in Tajimi
      • Drink - Sake. "Excellently Dry"
      • Food: Cook a local snack - Gohei mochi
      • Food: The History of the Gohei mochi
    • Life in Tajimi >
      • Tono-ben: Great Ice-breaker phrases for the traveler >
        • Tono-ben Karta - a card game
        • Tono-ben; Everybody Loves Fumi-chan
        • Learn Tono-ben (Karuta cards)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi: My Life in a Seemingly Ordinary Rural Town (Part 1)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 2): About a future where people live wherever they want
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 3): Now is the time to see the countryside
      • The Festival - Oh, What a Night!
      • The Life of an American Japanese
      • Festivals in Tajimi
      • 2018 in Tajimi - Visually
      • Film - A day in Tajimi
      • Virtual Travel - The day when Our World Shrank
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 01)
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 02)
      • Flower Viewing Beyond the Crowds
      • Manga: The Kappa Scene
      • Shidekobushi - the rare Magnolias of the Tono region
    • History >
      • A Failed Coup d'etat - And the Death of a Tajimi Samurai
  • エッセイ
    • 多治見ウォーキング >
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート1
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート2 不動明王の滝
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 高田/小名田 ​パート3 水月窯
      • 多治見歴史探索ウォーキング - 土岐川の北側
      • ながせ通りウォーキング 昔の姿に思いを馳せながら
      • おりべストリート周辺 - パート1
      • 多治見 銀座通り
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート1))
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート2)
    • 陶器・タイル >
      • シロクマの焼き物パフォーマンス
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 1)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 02)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 03)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 04)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 05)
      • 美濃焼ルネッサンスのルーツ
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART1
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART2
      • 登り窯
      • 焼き物の楽しみ方
      • 幸兵衛窯:伝統と革新の出会い
      • 多治見で作陶
      • 安藤日出武
      • タイルキングダム - 笠原町
      • 陶磁器の本拠地でグランプリを目指せ!
      • 柴田育彦 ボーダーレスな陶芸家
      • 新しい陶磁器産業の形
      • モザイクタイルプリンセス
      • フィンランドと多治見の出会い
      • 陶祖 - 謎めいた名工が遺したもの
      • 青山双渓氏、「白天目」の再現に挑んだ窯
    • 食べる・飲む >
      • 多治見で乾杯!
      • 五平餅を食べられるお店と作り方
      • ウナギ・ア・ラ・タジミエンヌ
      • 超辛口の日本酒への情熱
      • 多治見のお正月の自然薯料理
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 1
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 2
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 3
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 01)
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 02)
    • 夏祭り - なんて素敵な夜!
    • 人込みを避けてお花見を満喫しよう
    • 多治見のお祭り
    • シデコブシ 東濃地方の珍しい木蓮の花
    • ビジュアルで2018年の多治見を振り返ろう
    • 多治見の楽しい方言 東濃弁
    • バーチャル・トラベル
    • ビデオ - A DAY IN 多治見
    • 失敗に終わったクーデター
    • 2019年 多治見るこみち イングリッシュ・ガイドツアー
    • アメリカン・ジャパニーズとしての暮らし
    • やくならマグカップも:カッパが登場するシーン
    • 東濃弁でカルタ遊び
    • みんな大好きふみちゃん
    • 多治見でサイクリング
  • Access
  • Contact
  • Downloads