is a Japanese category of historic preservation introduced by a 1975 amendment of the law which mandates the protection of groups of traditional buildings which, together with their environment, form a beautiful scene. They can be post towns, castle towns, mining towns, merchant quarters, ports, farming or fishing villages, etc. The Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs recognizes and protects the country's cultural properties under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties.
Municipalities can designate items of particular importance as and approve measures to protect them. Items of even higher importance are then designated by the central government. The Agency for Cultural Affairs then provides guidance, advice, and funds for repairs and other work. Additional support is given in the form of preferential tax treatment.
As of May 22, 2026, 130 districts have been classified as Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings.
List of Important Preservation Districts
Criteria Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings are designated according to three criteria:
Groups of traditional buildings that show excellent design as a whole Groups of traditional buildings and land distribution that preserve the old state of affairs well Groups of traditional buildings and their surrounding environment that show remarkable regional characteristics
Statistics Type No. ofDistrictsThe total in this column is larger than the number of designated groups, because some of the designated properties belong to more than one type. Brewers town 4 Casters town 1 Castle town 4 Dyeing and weaving town 2 Farming village 5 Fishing village 2 Hot-spring town 1 JinaimachiA is an autonomous religious community that appeared in the Muromachi Period. 2 Lacquerware town 1 Merchant quarter 29 Mining town 2 Mountain village 15 Porcelain-maker town 1 Port quarter 14 Post town 11 Salt works town 1 Sericulture community 5 Ship-owner quarter 2 Shrine quarter 1 Silk spinning town 1 Tea house quarter 3 Temple town 9 Textile town 1 Samurai quarter 14 Wax maker quarter 1 Zaigō town 13 Prefecture City No. ofDistricts Aichi Nagoya 1 Toyota 1 Akita Semboku 1 Yokote 1 Aomori Hirosaki 1 Kuroishi 1 Chiba Katori 1 Ehime Seiyo 1 Uchiko 1 Tsushima 1 Fukui Obama 1 Wakasa 1 Minamiechizen 1 Fukuoka Asakura 1 Ukiha 2 Yame 2 Fukushima Kitakata 1 Minamiaizu 1 Shimogō 1 Gifu Ena 1 Gujō 1 Mino 1 Shirakawa 1 Takayama 2 Gunma Kiryū 1 Nakanojō 1 Hiroshima Fukuyama 1 Hatsukaichi 1 Kure 1 Takehara 1 Hokkaidō Hakodate 1 Hyōgo Kōbe 1 Sasayama 2 Tatsuno 1 Toyooka 1 Yabu 1 Ibaraki Sakuragawa 1 Ishikawa Hakusan 1 Kaga 2 Kanazawa 4 Wajima 1 Iwate Kanegasaki 1 Kagawa Marugame 1 Kagoshima Izumi 1 Minamikyūshū 1 Satsumasendai 1 Minamisatsuma 1 Kōchi Aki 1 Muroto 1 Kyoto Ine 1 Kyoto 4 Nantan 1 Yosano 1 Mie Kameyama 1 Miyagi Murata 1 Miyazaki Hyuga 1 Nichinan 1 Shiiba 1 Nagano Chikuma 1 Hakuba 1 Nagiso 1 Shiojiri 2 Suzaka 1 Togakushi 1 Tōmi 1 Nagasaki Hirado 1 Nagasaki 2 Unzen 1 Nara Gojō 1 Kashihara 1 Uda 1 Niigata Sado 2 Ōita Hita 1 Kitsuki 1 Okayama Kurashiki 1 Takahashi 1 Tsuyama 2 Yakage 1 Okinawa Taketomi 1 Tonaki 1 Osaka Tondabayashi 1 Saga Arita 1 Kashima 2 Ureshino 1 Saitama Kawagoe 1 Shiga Higashiōmi 1 Hikone 1 Ōmihachiman 1 Ōtsu 1 Shimane Matsue 1 Ōda 2 Tsuwano 1 Shizuoka Yaizu 1 Tochigi Tochigi 1 Tokushima Mima 1 Miyoshi 1 Mugi 1 Tottori Daisen 1 Kurayoshi 1 Wakasa 1 Toyama Nanto 2 Takaoka 3 Wakayama Yuasa 1 Yamaguchi Hagi 4 Yanai 1 Yamanashi Hayakawa 1 Kōshū 1
Usage The table's columns (except for Remarks and Images) are sortable by table headings. The following gives an overview of what is included in the table and how the sorting works. Name: name of the important preservation district as registered in the Database of National Cultural Properties Type: type of the district (samurai / merchant / tea house /... quarter, post town, mountain village, mine town,...) Criterion: number of the criterion under which the district is designated (see list of criteria above) Area: area covered Remarks: general remarks Location: "town-name prefecture-name"; The column entries sort as "prefecture-name town-name". Images: picture of the structure
List