Sacred Places, Pilgrimage, and Tourism - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 147

Fig. 4.10 Landscape of Kamicho

customer base of the three towns differed according to the distance from Shinshoji
and Narita Station. The shops in Nakamachi, closest to Shinshoji, catered to wor-
shipers and tourists; the shops in Hanasakicho, near Narita Station, catered to local
customers; and the shops in Kamicho, located between Nakamachi and Hanasakicho,
catered to worshipers, tourists, and local customers. The changes in the surround-
ings of Omotesando changed the shops' business, but the clientele has not changed
signifi cantly since the towns formed.
The difference in each town's clientele arises from factors involved in the towns'
formation. Nakamachi developed alongside increases in the number of worshipers
and tourists, as it is close to Shinshoji. Although there were shops for worshipers
and tourists in Kamicho and Hanasakicho, the shopping streets in these towns
developed only after the start of the railroad service. Nakamachi already had the
functions of being a Monzenmachi and a shopping street, but Kamicho and
Hanasakicho developed the business categories to support a Monzenmachi and
local residents. The “List of Town Streets from the Private Railroad Narita Station
to Monzendori in 1907” provided by Sakaguchi ( 1991 ) reveals Kamicho had hospi-
tals, kimono shops, meat wholesalers, watch shops, and rice shops, and Hanasakicho
had carriers, fuel stores, barbers, photography shops, and banks. I note Kamicho
and Hanasakicho were a single town (Daimachi) before the 1860s, and elderly resi-
dents referred to the low-lying Nakamachi, Honcho, Tamachi, and Azumacho as
“downtown,” and upslope Saiwaicho, Kamicho, and Hanasakicho as “ Dai. ”