Taking a break: Judenken - a quick way to find off the beaten paths

I wrote about Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings, aka Judenken(重伝建築) on one of Japan travel group in order to help internationals find hidden gems by themselves a while ago. I re-edited my posting to be more helpful. 

Have you heard “Judenken(重伝建)”?

What is “Judenken”? 

It’s the shortened form of “Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings”(重要伝統的建造物群保存地区, Jūyō Dentōteki Kenzōbutsu-gun Hozon-chiku). These areas are protected by the Japanese government; certified by the Agency of Cultural Affairs. 

There are a lot of Judenken areas that are ON THE BEATEN PATHS. For example, Takayama, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Hagi etc. have wide areas of Judenken. Tsumago, Shirakawago, Gokayama, Ouchi, Kawagoe, Miyajima all have Judenken area. However, quite a few of Judenken areas are NOT ON THE RADAR OF INTERNATIONALS. 

The National Council of Traditional Buildings Preservation Districts(全国伝統的建造物群保存地区協議会, aka Denkenkyo: the English name is my translation) has the list and archives of Judenken areas in the following link. 

https://www.denken.gr.jp/

I have been to historical districts without realizing that these were indeed Judenken areas. So far, I visited;

Nagano: Inariyama(Chikuma), Hirasawa, Narai(Shiojiri), Tsumago(Nagiso)

Gifu: Sanmachi, Shimo-Ninomachi(Takayama), Shirakawago(Shirakawa), Gujo-Hachiman(Gujo), Mino, Iwamura(Ena)

Aichi: Asuke(Toyota), Arimatsu(Nagoya)

Shiga: Kawaramachi-Serimachi(Hikone)

Toyama: Suganuma, Ainokura(Nanto)

Ishikawa: Kazuemachi, Higashichaya(Kanazawa)

Kyoto: Gion, Sanneizaka, Saga-Toriimoto(Kyoto)

Hyogo: Kitano(Kobe)

Okayama: Bikan(Kurashiki)

Hiroshima: Miyajima(Hatsukaichi)

Nagasaki: Higashiyanate, Minamiyamate(Nagasaki)

Most of Judenken areas are, on old routes, which means, Kaido. 

(Picture below is Mino old downtown in May 2024)

The next picture is Arimatsu in Nagoya, another Judenken area. 

Of all Judenken list, quite a few of them are not recognized by many people. These includes Unno, Makabe, Takaoka, Sakurai, Yakage, Yamefukushima for example. 

There are local government level of preserved districts that are not on Judenken list. 

For example, Magome is not on Judenken list.(This is a surprised to me) Okage-Yokocho in Ise is a district that old houses and buildings from various places in Mie Prefecture have been relocated to one place as kinda theme park. So Okage-Yokocho is not on Judenken list. 

Here are some of notable, non-Judenken historical areas recognized by local governments(The following links are official websites of local governments/tourist offices): 

Yanagimachi Historical district, Ueda, Nagano.(Ueda city tourist bureau official website)  https://go.ueda-kanko.or.jp/special/castle_town/

Seto River and Shirakabe warehouse streets, Hida, Gifu.(Hida city official website) https://hida.travel/

Sakoshi district, Ako, Hyogo.(the website is about Sake brewery museum. However, this area is the historical quarter) https://ako-kankou.jp/en/sightseeing/okutoushuzo-2.html

When you type and google Judenken, it makes easier to find where lots of travelers are going, and less travelers are going.(because there are a lot of names that are probably not familiar, and if you know the names of Judenken areas already, chances are that lots of travelers already know these and these are where flocks are gathering)

This does not necessarily mean that all these Judenken places have been well-preserved. 

Recently I watched several YouTube videos about the Kitano Judenken district in Kobe city(I visited there decades ago), and unfortunately it has shrunk and some of historical foreigners’ residences have been torn down, or nearly torn down. 

Also, you might end up finding some other non-Judenken areas that are well-preserved while researching Judenken. 

Note that these historical districts do not necessarily have enough accommodations, or sometimes zero accommodations. Also, they might not necessarily have good info in other languages. However, once you find these, you might find these as good alternatives to major tourist sites. 

The complete list of Judenken is available on the website of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Goverment of Japan. The list is updated every year in Japanese.

I am posting the link of Wikipedia about Judenken. Expand your research from here😉

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groups_of_Traditional_Buildings 

2024 list of Judenken by the Agency for Cultural Affaris. (in Japanese) 

https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/hozonchiku/judenken_ichiran.html

Denkenkyo official website.

https://www.denken.gr.jp/



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