• Kakunodate is a former castle town which flourished during the Edo period. Known as the “Little Kyoto of Tohoku”, the town is home to a district 800-meters in radius consisting of samurai residences and traditional architecture popular with both domestic and international tourists. The samurai residences lining the town’s most famous street are nationally protected Traditional Buildings.
• But no one really cared about the merchant district that also has history and culture that is also passed down for generations. In this tour, with an experienced local guide, we will take you to both the merchant district and the samurai district. It will show you the contrast between the 2 distinct lifestyles of people and how the tradition has been passed down to current days.
• We picked up the best of the best in town, so we are confident that you will acknowledge the beauty of traditional style of living which people admired from the samurai era.

We will have our tour briefing at ORENCHI. Information regarding Kakunodate Town as a samurai town and also as a merchant’s town will be given here. The tour will begin by going into the merchant’s district first and experiencing Kabazaiku using mountain cherry barks, exploring a century old soy sauce and miso brewery, and visiting manors of the Samurai district. Information regarding Kakunodate’s significance will be given here.