The document discusses the urban renewal and preservation of Imai-cho, a historic district in Nara, Japan. It provides background on the founding and development of Imai-cho from the 15th century. Key points include that Imai-cho contains over 500 well-preserved houses from the Edo period laid out in a grid pattern, as well as important cultural sites like Shonenji Temple and traditional merchant homes. The preservation process involved designating the area, addressing conflicts between residents and the government, and creating a plan to balance development and protecting Imai-cho's historic character.

1. URBAN
RENEWAL
OF
IMAI
CHO

2. EVALUATING THE CONSERVATION OF IMAI-CHO
• The name 'Imai' was first used in the 1386 scriptures
of Kofukuji temple, to depict a loose geographical
area.
• The city was in fact founded sometime between 1532
and 1555.
• Building in the area was begum by Toyohisa
Imaihyobukyo, a Buddhist priest of the Ikkoshu sect,
who built the Shonenji Temple and surrounded it with
a moat for protective purposes.
• After civil strifes in 1568 and 1575, ties with the
cities of Osaka and Sakai flourished and by the Edo
era (1597 - 1868), it had become an important
commercial city of the south Yamato plains.
• A special self-government was later set up and
Imai-cho came to be ruled by Governors.

4. HISTORY OF IMAI- CHO, JAPAN
The well-preserved district is filled with 500
houses Imai Cho is the largest preservation
district in Nara. One such shop is Kawai Sake
Brewery, a family-run brewery The town of Imai-
cho preserves the appearance of an 18th-century
Japanese town.
The outward appearance of the houses,
with their lattice doors and earthen walls,
and their inner furnishings, including
spacious earthen-floored rooms and
traditional kamado ovens, provides a
glimpse of what life was like for the
merchants of olden time.

5. 500 Edo period houses laid in grid layout
In the 15th Century, Imai Cho
town comprised of east, west,
south and north districts but
later gotten extended by the
shin machi and Imai-cho districts
covering an area of 600m East to
West and over 300m north to
South.
It is the largest preservation
district of Japan
It can be seen that the town block is divided into north and south by the east-west split
line at the center, and each unit has a main house facing the road and a courtyard at
the back. It is divided into separate buildings such as retirement rooms and
storehouses, and the cityscape of the main street such as Midosuji

6. Houses laid in grid layout
In 1993, Imai-cho was designated as a
construction district by a city planning decision,
and the district is designated as a class 1
medium-to-high-rise exclusive residential district
with a statutory building coverage ratio of 60%
and floor area ratio of 200%.
According to the same 1993 enacted Article 5 of
the Ordinance Concerning the Relaxation of
Restrictions on the Building Standards Law in the
Preservation District for Groups of Traditional
Buildings in Imai-cho, Kashihara City, traditional
buildings
A total of 17.4 ha of one complete traditional city
is under protection. Unlike most of the other
construction districts in Japan, which are part of
the city, the Imaicho district is characterized by
the fact that the architectural composition of the
entire city can be read.

7. Houses laid in grid layout
For those exceeding
this building
coverage ratio limit,
the excess is allowed
within the existing
range, and measures
are taken such as
allowing up to 80%
building coverage
ratio for landscape
decoration

8. 500 Edo period houses laid in grid layout
Traditionally, the overall framework of Imai has had a structure in which a high-density urban block
with a ditch in the center is surrounded by low-density surrounding blocks.
It is assumed that blocks facing or close to the moat had no ditch, and that the entrance of each house
indicated by the asterisk faced the center of town, and consisted of row houses with their backs facing
the moat be done.
Even now, there are many districts with many townhouses on large plots (machiya districts) in the
central area, and many districts with many row houses on small plots (tenement districts) in the
surrounding area.
Many of these buildings were created by demolishing row houses that were evaluated as historical
buildings in the 1991 survey, and because vacant lots have mainly increased in the surrounding
districts with many row houses, the changes over the past 15 years have been significant. It is thought
that mainly the surrounding blocks were affected.

9. Places of Importance

10. Places of Importance
The temple started as a nenbutsu-dojo
(training hall for Buddhistic invocation)
founded by Hoju IMAI (Nyudo Hyobubo
KAWASE) who was of the same lineage as
important people of the Hongan-ji
Temple (1532-1555). Hoju IMAI, together with
Mr. Kawai,worked to complete laying out
the jinaicho (temple village) making a moat
and earthen walls for fortification. The temple
village flourished as an autonomous city after
being disarmed by Nobunaga ODA. Emperor
Meiji made a stopover at the temple in 1877.

11. Places of Importance

12. Places of Importance
The “Machiya” houses
White plastered walls, tiled roofs and
dark-wood latticed windows, these were
the trademarks of the merchant houses
in wealthy Imai during Japan’s feudal
period. Aligned row upon row in small
alleyways, the sight of many such
houses in one place is now rarely seen
elsewhere in Japan.
Reflected in an old Imai saying: “70
percent of the gold of Yamato comes
from Imai”, one can easily imagine the
wealth and power of Imai Town in
centuries past.

13. Places of Importance
The “Machiya” houses
White plastered walls, tiled roofs and
dark-wood latticed windows, these were
the trademarks of the merchant houses
in wealthy Imai during Japan’s feudal
period. Aligned row upon row in small
alleyways, the sight of many such
houses in one place is now rarely seen
elsewhere in Japan.
Reflected in an old Imai saying: “70
percent of the gold of Yamato comes
from Imai”, one can easily imagine the
wealth and power of Imai Town in
centuries past.

14. HISTORY OF IMAI- CHO, JAPAN
The well-preserved district is filled with the kind
of houses and shops you would expect to see in a
Japanese period drama. One such shop is Kawai
Sake Brewery, a family-run brewery The town of
Imai-cho preserves the appearance of an 18th-
century Japanese town.
The outward appearance of the houses,
with their lattice doors and earthen walls,
and their inner furnishings, including
spacious earthen-floored rooms and
traditional kamado ovens, provides a
glimpse of what life was like for the
merchants of olden time.

15. PRESERVATION PROCESS
The process of designating an historic area as a preservation zone begins by a survey
research of the are to determine the measures to be taken for preservation, areas to
be preserved, financial allocation, etc
Conflicts that commonly develop during this period is mitigated through a series of
consensus-building exercises. It is usually at this period that residents' associations
and groups are formed to mediate between the interests of the land/house owners
and the local government.
The Preservation Plan proposed for the historic area first hears opinions from the
Council, including the validity of the areas selected for preservation. After necessary
modifications, it is thrown open to public hearings.

16. MEDIATION AND CONSENSUS BUILDING
Conflicts arise between residents of an historic area and the local government during the
designation of DenKen Chiki. In the case of Imai-cho, some of the key conflicts concerned the
contents of the preservation plan, and the implementation procedures.
Conflicts regarding the contents of the Preservation Plan included building regulations,
depreciation of land price, house rent controls, preservation techniques, fire security
measures, out-migration of residents etc.
Conflicts arising as a result of implementation procedure included method of declaring
regulations, authority and legitimacy of questionnaires, behaviour of city officials in public
hearings etc.
Taken together, there were two clear processes involved in concensus-building:
an information dissemination process, and a dispute-settling process.
During the first process, information on DenKenChiki designation, preservation plan etc. were
disseminated to the residents. During the second process, a series of conferences, written
reports, and public hearings were used to resolve conflicts between residents' interests and
the local government.

18. THREATS
Before 1991, up until the district wasn’t declared a place of “cultural importance”, thereby resulting in tearing down
of few row houses in the periphery
The current residents find it difficult to maintain, or are getting old and the houses are falling vacant which is in
direct conflict with the preservation idea of still using the infrastructure
The structures and apartments around Imai-cho district are not in cultural harmony with the wooden houses of
Imai-cho
The district has many historical buildings and maintains a high building coverage ratio with almost no vacant land.
The traditional townscape is well preserved.