User:HelloAnnyong/Translated/Kasajima

Kasajima (笠島) is a district located on the main island (Honjima) in the Shiwaku Islands archipelago in the Seto Inland Sea in Japan.

The city has been well preserved since the Edo period and was selected as a Groups of Traditional Buildings.

Description

The most populated city in the Shiwaku Islands, Kasajima is located on Honjima. Until the Sengoku period, the islands were the main base of the Shiwaku water force. During the Edo period it was an important place in water transportation. The city focused on lighter cargo vessels and prospered, and it was then that the townscape was built. In the earlier part of the Edo period the city flourished, but later on there was a flood of people with the same skills, and so the city gradually declined. In 1720, on the decree of the bakufu, the sale of ships and vessels was turned over to workers in Osaka. After that the people of Kasajima leveraged their building skills by starting to build homes, and were soon well known throughout Japan. Several times a year the workers would return to Kasajima to do repairs there. It is for that reason that the town from that period is so well preserved.

In 1985 the town was selected as a traditional architectures preservation district, and the village is still being mended and preserved. Within the village, the stores that built and sold boats, as well as the homes of merchants are being promoted. Although it is a small town, the roads were built in a key shape for defensive purposes. Three estates are usually open to the public for observation.