Ouchi-juku

Ouchi-juku was a post station on the Shimotsuke Kaido, the road between Aizu and Nikko, and about thirty thatched houses stand along a single unpaved street with a water channel running down each side. The reason it looks as it does is a decision: in 1981 the residents adopted a charter of three refusals - not to sell, not to rent, not to destroy - which committed them to maintaining the thatch and the frontages themselves rather than selling out, and the village was designated a preservation district the same year. Roofs are rethatched in rotation by the community. The houses are lived in and most run shops or restaurants. The local dish is negi soba, buckwheat noodles eaten using a whole raw spring onion as the chopstick, biting the onion as you go - a genuine local practice rather than a stunt. A path climbs to a viewpoint over the street.

What you actually see

• A thatched street - about thirty houses along an unpaved road with water channels.
• The three refusals - a residents' charter of 1981 not to sell, rent or demolish.
• Community rethatching - roofs renewed in rotation by the villagers themselves.
• Negi soba - noodles eaten with a spring onion for a chopstick, and bitten as you go.

When to go

April to November; the February snow festival is the other draw. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is one street and can be walked in twenty minutes - the visit is short. Coach parties fill it in the middle of the day. Access without a car is awkward and involves a taxi. Winter access depends on snow clearing.

Nearby

Aizu-Wakamatsu and Tsuruga Castle are north; the Tadami line is west.