This district facing the Nagasaki Kaido was an area for merchants and artisans that was established some time before the year 1789 (Kansei 1). During the Edo period (1603–1868) the district flourished as a strategic point for ship transportation, and continued to be a commercial district in modern times. Still standing in the district are the former house (now used as part of the Saga City Cultural Museum) of the Morinaga family, who were tobacco producers in the Edo period, and many other historical buildings that tell the story of how it flourished in the Edo, Meiji and Taisho periods (1603–1912).