During the Edo period, Takehara’s salt brought significant wealth to the town. At the center of this prosperity were the wealthy merchants of the salt fields, who were known as Hama-danna. These Hama-danna spared no money and poured their fortunes into construction. The merchants built traditional townhouses known as machiya, and they ensured the buildings were constructed at the highest quality. These investments made by the Hama-danna are what built the beautiful townscape you see along the street of Honmachi-dōri.
Each machiya in Takehara sports a different design. The buildings almost appear as if they are all competing to be the most unique structure. This variation in architecture was due to the fact that the Hama-danna used the machiya townhouses as venues of hospitality.
The merchants would invite guests to the machiya, which they were quite proud of. There, the merchants would discuss business while entertaining their guests with extravagant displays of hospitality. That hospitality would build trust with the guests, trust would bring the town wealth, and wealth would support the future of the town.
If you look at the roofs of the buildings lining the street of Honmachi-dōri, you’ll see that many of them are built with a traditional roof known as honkawarabuki. These dense tiles were originally so costly that they were only used for temples. In order to support these heavy roofs, the buildings also had to be sturdy, so they were constructed with thick pillars and beams. The solid structures of these buildings are a display of the high social standing these merchants had.
There are other signs of the Hama-dannas’ wealth hidden in these buildings. There are sturdy walls that were made with countless layers of plaster, and meticulously crafted pieces of Takehara latticework that have endured countless years exposed to weather. You may wonder what sort of tales are hidden deep inside these buildings.
There were three families that became famous in Edo for their salt fields. Those families were the Taketsuru family, Yoshiike family, and the Rai family. Let’s continue walking down Honmachi-dōri and trace the influence of the Hama-danna, focusing on these three central families.
