Admire the retro architecture of the Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa eras

Why not go on a short journey through Akita City, where the history and culture of the castle town is still alive?

Akita City is a city that developed around Kubota Castle (currently Chishu Park) built by Yoshinobu Satake, the first lord of the Akita domain, and its castle town. The castle town was made up of ''Uchimachi'', where the samurai lived on the south side of the castle, ''Sotomachi'', where the townspeople lived across the Asahi River, and ''Teramachi'', which was lined with temples to the west. Merchants moved to Omachi, which was the first to be developed among the outer towns, and continued to prosper as an economic center even after modern times. ''Dori-machi'' was a key transportation point leading to Kubota Castle, and many people came and went, and it prospered as a merchant town along with Omachi.

A lot of historical buildings built in the Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa eras remain in the current Omachi and Torimachi areas, including the Akita City Red Brick Local Museum (former Akita Bank main branch), and you can feel the history just by walking around the town.

One of them, the ''Akita City Machinaka Tourist Information Center,'' is a relocated and reconstructed version of the prefecture's first department store, ''The Old Oshima Shokai Store,'' which was built in 1901 in what is now Omachi 6-chome. The contrast between the brick and the Oga stone used for the front arch and corner stones is beautiful, and it is a Western-style building from the Meiji period and is a registered tangible cultural property of the country. Tourist pamphlets for the city and other parts of the prefecture are available inside the facility, and you can feel free to use it as a free rest area as well as tourist information.

You can fully experience the history just by walking around, but if you use the ''Akita City Tourist Guide'' provided by volunteer guides, you will gain a deeper understanding and enjoy walking around the city even more. To use the Akita City Tourist Guide, please apply to the Akita Tourism and Convention Association or the Akita City Tourist Information Center by the day before your desired date.