Kanto, Japan · Town / small city
Known as Kanto's 'Little Edo' (a nickname it shares with Kawagoe, though the setting is very different): the region's first preservation district for traditional buildings, with Edo- and Meiji-era merchant houses and warehouses lining the Ono River canal, explorable by traditional boat, the Toyo Bridge (releases water with a distinctive sound every 30 minutes), and a soba restaurant in the same spot since 1782.
Train — JR Narita Line from Tokyo (via Narita), no real line transfer, ~2h15, ¥1,960. Much shorter if based in Choshi (same line, further east): ~49min, ¥720, no transfer. The historic area is a 15-minute walk from the station.
A traditional boat ride (sappa-bune) along the canal running through the historic district, past Edo- and Meiji-era merchant houses and warehouses.
Kanto's first preservation district for groups of traditional buildings, with well-preserved wooden houses and warehouses lining both sides of the canal.
One of only three shrines in Japan to hold the historic rank of 'Jingu' before the Meiji era (along with Ise and Kashima), with a founding legend dating to 643 BC and a main hall of black-painted wood.
The river tradition of the Tone left Sawara with a constellation of grilled eel houses, each with its own sauce recipe and its own midday queue.
One of the three great float festivals of Japan, with elaborate carvings and giant figures, inscribed as UNESCO Intangible Heritage; the summer edition runs from 10 July and the autumn one on the second Saturday of October.
Eight-hectare water garden where 1.5 million irises of some 400 varieties bloom in June, explored by flat-bottomed boat along the canals; in July and August a collection of more than 300 lotus varieties takes over.
Around forty shops open their houses as small free museums, showing trade tools, dolls, storehouses and gardens, explained by the owners themselves, an initiative run by the women shopkeepers' association since 2005.
A bridge over the canal that releases a small waterfall with a distinctive sound every 30 minutes, one of Sawara's most photographed symbols.
National Historic Site beside the canal: the house and the sake and soy sauce business Ino Tadataka ran until he was fifty, before he began measuring Japan on foot; it stands directly opposite his museum.
Beside Katori Shrine, around 1447, the oldest surviving martial arts school in Japan was founded by Iizasa Ienao after a retreat at the shrine, and it is still transmitted by his family.
Hands-on 90-minute classes at the exchange hall in the preservation district: traditional Sawara papier-mache (hariko), paper cutting or raffia basketry; booking required.
Completely flat routes along the Tone River levee between rice paddies and wetlands; you can get here from Tokyo on the B.B.BASE cycling train, which takes assembled bicycles.
About 25 minutes by car, in the same municipality of Katori: thermal water drawn from 1,500 m down, sauna, glamping and a vegetable garden where children harvest produce.
Two genuine floats from the grand festival are on display year round with their colossal figures and the sawara-bayashi music, for anyone not travelling on the festival dates.
Brick bank from 1914 with an atrium and dome, a Chiba cultural property and a Western counterpoint to the wooden merchant quarter; reopened in 2022 after a full restoration.
Devoted to the surveyor who completed the first accurate map of all Japan on foot in the early 19th century; his former residence, next to the museum, is free to visit.
One of the three great Daishi temples of the Kanto region for warding off misfortune, along with Kawasaki and Nishiarai; the surveyor Ino Tadataka is also buried here.
A soba restaurant in the same spot since 1782, famous for 'kurokiri soba,' noodles made with seaweed worked into the dough.
Rare case of a roadside and river station in one, on the banks of the Tone: farmers' market, cheap bicycle rental and a pier for river cruises.
In April, 700 cherry trees of some fifteen species form a tunnel at Katori Shrine, and 600 paper lanterns light up Sawara Park at night.
Hotel spread across several restored Edo and Meiji period merchant houses inside the preservation district itself: you sleep literally within the historic quarter.
One of the oldest fireworks festivals in Japan, held in August over the Tone River in the same municipality.
Family brewery in operation since 1825, with guided tours and a free tasting; repeatedly awarded at national sake competitions.
Local boatwomen pole a flat-bottomed craft under twelve small bridges between rice paddies and irrigation canals, the classic image of the old 'water country'; different from the canal ride through the historic quarter.
Municipal canoe and paddleboard sessions on the calm waters of the wetland, at Tachibana Fureai Park.
Shop opened in 1800 inside the preservation district, still making Edo-style river fish preserves (ikadayaki, suzume-yaki).
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