Tondabayashi

Tondabayashi is a city in the Minamikawachi region of Osaka Prefecture. It was formed as a jinaimachi (temple-centered town) in the late Sengoku period and developed as a regional market town in the Edo period. Today, its historic streetscape of traditional buildings is preserved and has been designated as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. In the Sengoku period, it was a religious autonomous city centered on a branch temple of Kōshōji (Jōdo Shinshū), surrounded by earthen walls and moats. At the time, it measured roughly 400 meters east–west and 350 meters north–south, with four gated entrances around the perimeter; these gates were closed at night to maintain public order. The original town layout remains largely intact, and along Jōnomon-suji, the north–south main street, about 250 of the roughly 600 townhouses still retain their traditional form. The ‘Former Sugiyama Residence’ in the southwest of town is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan, and the ‘Nakamura Residence’ is designated a Tangible Cultural Property of Osaka Prefecture.