Ecchu Yatsuo Bakuroumachi (Owara Kaze no Bon Street)

Bakuroumachi is the historic merchant street at the heart of Yatsuo, a hillside district of Toyama City once prosperous from the silk and medicine trades, and it is best known as the setting for the Owara Kaze no Bon festival held each September. Visitors walk the sloped street lined with wooden merchant houses featuring distinctive lattice windows (sama-goshi) and stone-walled drainage channels, largely preserved from the town's Edo- and Meiji-era prosperity. Outside festival dates, the street offers a quiet, atmospheric walk through a well-preserved townscape, with a small museum and a few craft shops open during the day. During the Owara Kaze no Bon festival, held September 1 to 3, the street transforms as dancers in traditional costume perform a slow, lantern-lit dance accompanied by shamisen and kokyu music late into the night, drawing large crowds from across Japan. A general walk through Bakuroumachi takes about one to one and a half hours, while festival visits require significantly more time due to designated viewing areas and crowd density. The uphill walk from Etchu-Yatsuo Station takes 25 to 30 minutes, or visitors can use a local bus during the festival period when shuttle service typically increases. Because the town sits on a hillside, the street offers views down toward the Jinzu River valley from several points along its length.