Sawara in Chiba prefecture is a town that prospered during the Edo period. It is one of the few places I have seen with a quite completely intact core of old houses. They are situataed along a canal where a boatride can be taken. It is also the place of work of Inō Tadataka (伊能 忠敬 February 11, 1745 - May 17, 1818) a cartogapher and surveyor who made the first maps of Japan using mordern techniques. http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/chiba/sawara.html