YANAI, Yamaguchi -- Walking for about five minutes along Retro-dori street north of Yanai Station, across the Yanai River, brings you to a road of whitewashed buildings.
On one side of the river are retro buildings in the styles of the Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926-1989) eras, while on the other is a townscape reminiscent of the Edo period (1603-1867).
At the Yanai Machinami Museum at the entrance to the Edo side, I met Kinuyo Yamachika, 69, who said she has been a volunteer guide for 32 years, making her a living encyclopedia of Yanai tourism knowledge.
"I've been to 63 old townscapes from Hokkaido to Okinawa. Compared to them, the one here in Yanai is good quality. I hope a lot of people will come see it," she said.
The street of whitewashed buildings stretches for about 200 meters. Many date back to the Edo period and were built for merchants. Hanging from the ends of most buildings' eaves are goldfish lanterns made of bamboo and traditional Japanese paper.
Sent fluttering by the tiniest puff of wind, the lanterns seem to call out, "C'mon in." And so I do, one shop after another. The goldfish lanterns are indispensable for tourism here.
Kisaka Syobundo is a stationery shop founded in the Meiji era (1868-1912) that sells all kinds of original products with goldfish lantern motifs -- ring binders, labels, envelopes for special occasions.
Next door is Murakami Shoten, which uses the town's famous kanro soy sauce to make "nure-senbei," a kind of soft rice cracker.
And across the street is the Fujiyama Coffee Roasters shop, which has drip pouches of "Kingyo Chochin (goldfish lantern) Blend" coffee on display in the shop window.
The buildings might be old, but the people here are young at heart. This town is alive.
To learn more about these lanterns hanging everywhere, I visited the workshop Honke Kawamura Nobuo Kobo, but it was closed.
Yet, while standing there, someone called out to me from the restaurant across the street. It was Masae Kawamura, 87, the owner of the workshop, who was having a meal.
"I'll come over after I finish my champon noodles," she said.
"But it's your day off," I replied.
"Even on days off, if I show up we're open," she said.
The goldfish lanterns were thought up by a local merchant around the end of the Edo period who wanted to imitate the "nebuta" of the Tsugaru region. People enjoyed hanging them up for children's festivals and other events. After World War II they were in danger of disappearing, but for the efforts of a few men.
"One of them was my husband, Nobuo. He started making lanterns right after retiring from a career as an elementary school teacher. He's the one who made that charming design," Kawamura said.
Nobuo died six years ago at age 84, but Kawamura said she keeps the "honke" (original manufacturer) sign up so his work will survive.
All of a sudden the whitewashed buildings come to an end. The goal of my walk was a bus parking lot with a tourist information office.
"Did you come from Yanai Station? The tour groups get off their buses and start walking here, so you saw the townscape from the opposite direction," a worker at the office told me.
Hearing that made me want to turn around and see it all again. I am sure the combination of whitewashed walls and goldfish lanterns can be enjoyed in infinite ways.
Swimming under the eaves
With their wide-eyed stare, roly-poly bodies and big tails, goldfish lanterns have become one of Yanai's most famous products.
They adorn stationary, sweets, T-shirts and many other products, but they are at their finest hanging from the eaves of whitewashed buildings, where they soften the monochrome townscape.
Rich soy sauce
Yanai is known for its kanro soy sauce. The name is said to come from the Edo period, when a Kikkawa lord of Iwakuni Domain praised the soy sauce as tasting like "nectar" (kanro).
"The name often makes people think it's a sweet soy sauce, but it's not. It takes almost double the amount of time and effort to make than regular soy sauces. Its thick, mellow flavor is what 'kanro' refers to," said Naohisa Kiriyama, president of Sagawa Shoyu Inc., which was founded in the Tenpo era (1830-1844).
The company has turned part of its storehouse into a museum where you can observe the manufacturing process.
Though soy sauce has faced stiff competition from big companies recently, kanro has a faithful customer base among fancy ryotei restaurants and other buyers.
Kanro soy sauce ramen, made with a fish broth that has a thick kanro soy sauce base, can be tasted at two shops in town.
Traditional method, modern feel
Striped Yanai-jima, a simple cotton fabric, was popular with the common people during the Edo period.
With the spread of Western clothes starting in the Meiji era, Yanai-jima fabric disappeared for a time. But after the discovery of a weaving machine in a home in 1989, it made a comeback thanks to local supporters.
Customers can try their hand at weaving and dying at the shop Yanai Nishigura.
A modern take on the handwoven cloth called "Shinsei (new) Yanai-jima" is available in lengths of fabric and as bags, pouches and other accessories.
Access
It takes about 90 minutes by plane from Haneda Airport to Iwakuni Kintaikyo Airport. It takes about 10 minutes from the airport to JR Iwakuni Station by bus. A 35-minute train ride on the JR Sanyo Line from the station will take you to Yanai Station.
For more information, call the Yanai City Sightseeing Association at (0820) 23-3655.
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