Sacred Places, Pilgrimage, and Tourism - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 149

up to the front of the gate of Shinshoji, around Narita Station, and along Omotesando,
which connected Narita Station and Shinshoji. This led to an increase in the number
of restaurants and souvenir shops for use by both tourists and worshipers. Other
services such as barbers, watch shops, banks, and hospitals used by local residents
developed and strengthened the function of this area as a central shopping street of
Monzenmachi.
As convenient transportation made day trips for tourists and worshipers easier,
the style of worship changed from group worship by ko to individual worship. This
diversifi cation resulted from motorization, and the inns around Shinshoji were
forced to either discontinue business or to change their business category to a res-
taurant or souvenir shop (diversifi cation of business period). The change in business
category differed depending on physical location of the shop concerned. Nakamachi,
being close to Shinshoji gate, developed more restaurants and general goods shops
to cater to tourists and worshipers; Hanasakicho, being close to Narita Station,
developed shops used by local residents; Kamicho, being located between these,
began having vacant shops and part of the town became a shuttered street.
The changes in business type were also promoted by other external factors,
including the opening of Narita Airport in 1978 and large retail shops around Narita
after the 1980s. Many airport-related industries opened around Narita, which drasti-
cally increased employment opportunities. The shopping street at Omotesando
allowed the succeeding generation to gain different employment to the previous
generation, and many shops discontinued business. Large shops also signifi cantly
changed the purchasing behavior of local shoppers. Omotesando could not provide
parking, so shops selling daily goods were forced to change their business category
or even close (transformation of the shopping street period).
After the 1990s, a community-planning council was organized by the shop own-
ers who felt a sense of crisis regarding the shopping street. Community planning
was promoted by the shopkeepers and the administration (reorganization of
Monzenmachi in the community-planning period).
The community-planning project aimed to improve the buildings along
Omotesando through setback and facade improvement projects, which began in
1996 and were linked to a project to bury telephone lines, make repairs and create a
different landscape for Omotesando. Kamicho led the part of the community-
planning project that was related to improving the landscape. Kamicho had less
traffi c than Nakamachi and Hanasakicho. Some of the shops opposed the setback
and facade improvement projects, but about 90 % of the shops had completed both
projects by 2009. The result was larger pedestrian paths and an improved
Omotesando landscape that was greatly appreciated by visitors. Kamicho was even-
tually awarded the Urban Landscape Grand Prize by the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in 2005. The community planning of Kamicho
improved landscape design.
In 1998, Hanasakicho followed Kamicho and organized a community-planning
council. In 2012, a setback project and facade improvement project were promoted
alongside a telephone line burial project. Within Nakamachi, community planning
was limited to burying the telephone lines underground, and was software-oriented