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Chirimen Kaido
— the Tango-silk merchant street of Kaya
A preserved former merchant street in Kaya, a district of Yosano town in northern Kyoto, lined with the merchant houses, warehouses and weaving factories built by the Tango chirimen silk-crepe trade.
Chirimen Kaido — meaning "the crepe-silk road" — runs through the Kaya district of Yosano town in the Tango region of northern Kyoto. The town grew rich on Tango chirimen, a crinkled silk crepe long prized for kimono. The street runs roughly 700 metres from the former Kaya Town Hall down to the Nishiyama silk factory, and the whole neighbourhood is a nationally designated preservation district of about 12 hectares. Along the way stand plaster-walled merchant houses, storehouses, silk factories, old clinics, banks, an inn and temples. Of the roughly 260 buildings in the district, about 120 date from the Meiji, Taisho and early Showa eras (1860s–1930s), so the streetscape reads as a compact record of successive periods. Several buildings are open to visitors, including the former Bito family residence, once home to a wealthy crepe wholesaler.
Why it stays quiet
It stays quiet because it sits well beyond the usual Kyoto sightseeing routes, has little information in English, and takes a long train-and-bus trip to reach. Most visitors to northern Kyoto stop at the Amanohashidate sandbar and never come inland to Kaya.
Background & history
The technique for weaving Tango chirimen is recorded as reaching Kaya in 1722, brought by men who had learned fine-silk weaving in Kyoto. The crepe became a mainstay of Japan's kimono trade from the Edo period onward, and the town's wealth funded the substantial buildings that survive today. Japan designated the district an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings on 27 December 2005. It is also recognised as part of a Japan Heritage story about the region's silk culture.
What to look for — in walking order
- Former Kaya Town Hall
- a 1929 civic building in a Western-influenced style, now used by the local tourist association
- Former Bito residence
- a crepe wholesaler's house, open to the public to show how a silk merchant family lived
- Merchant houses and storehouses
- plaster-walled shopfronts and warehouses lining the roughly 700-metre street
- Working silk workshops
- crepe factories and textile workshops that still operate in and around the district
How to enjoy it
The street is short enough to walk end-to-end at a comfortable pace. Stroll from the former town hall toward the Nishiyama silk factory and read the building fronts as a record of different eras. Step inside the former Bito residence or a working textile workshop and the walk becomes a look at the craft that built this town.
How to actually get there
- Kyoto Stn → Fukuchiyama Stn (Kinosaki limited express, ~1 hr 15 min)
- Fukuchiyama Stn → Yosano Stn (Tango Relay limited express, ~45 min)
- Yosano Stn → "Chirimen Kaido" stop (Tango Kairiku bus No. 30/32, ~25 min)
- Bus stop → preservation street (walk, ~1 min)
- Kyoto → Fukuchiyama → Yosano → bus
- Kyoto Stn →(Kinosaki limited express, ~1 hr 15 min)→ Fukuchiyama Stn →(Tango Relay limited express on the Kyoto Tango Railway, ~45 min)→ Yosano Stn →(Tango Kairiku bus No. 30 or 32 to the "Chirimen Kaido" stop, ~25 min, then a 1-minute walk). Total roughly 2 hr 30 min by train plus the bus. The bus runs only a few times a day, so check the day's timetable before you leave.
- Return the same way
- Take the bus back to Yosano Stn, then the trains toward Fukuchiyama and Kyoto. Buses are sparse and end in the early evening, so when you arrive check the return times posted at the "Chirimen Kaido" stop. If you miss the bus, a taxi from the street to Yosano Stn takes about 15 minutes.
Before you go
- Cash
- Rural buses and small shops are often cash-only, so carry coins and small notes.
- Closing days
- People live in the houses along the street, so look from outside and do not enter private homes.
- Another way
- If the bus times do not suit you, take a taxi from Yosano Stn to Chirimen Kaido — the ride is about 15 minutes.
- After you get off
- From the "Chirimen Kaido" bus stop it is about a 1-minute walk to the preservation street, which then runs for roughly 700 metres.