While the Warehouse District is often famous for its Edo era (1603-1867, 江戸時代, Edo-jidai) vibes, and is often referred to as "Little Edo (江戸)", the district was not actually built till after the Edo era. In 1893 during the Meiji era (1868-1912, 明治時代, Meiji-jidai), the Great Kawagoe Fire burned down as much as one third of the town.
Some of the buildings that survived the fire were the traditional clay kura (蔵, Warehouse), which had naturally fire-resistant properties. As such, during the reconstruction efforts, many of the merchants who were inspired by the culture of Edo chose to go with building more traditional clay kura instead of the Western-style brick buildings that were more popular at the time.
By the 1950s though, the modernization of lifestyles meant that shoppers had grown to prefer shopping in brightly-lit modern storefronts as opposed to the dimly lit kura. Furthermore, the commercial center of Kawagoe had shifted from the Warehouse District to the shopping streets around Kawagoe Station due to the popularity of the railway. The Warehouse District became regarded as a old-fashioned relic that was left behind in time, and one-by-one the kura started to get demolished to make way for modern developments.
In the 1960s and 1970s, there was growing opposition by locals towards the demolishing of these kura. In 1971, one of the old kura owned by the Ozawa family (大沢家, Ozawa-ke), which had survived the Great Kawagoe Fire, was designated as a Cultural Property of Japan (文化財, Bunkazai), and this gave further rise to the preservation movement.
By the late 1970s and 1980s, there was a shared goal between the city and its residents to make use of the "traditionalness" of Kawagoe as one of its unique points. A local committee was formed for the Warehouse District, and by 1989 there was a renovation project for individual stores in kura to bring them up to modern standards.
Since then, the city and its residents have further built upon bringing out the attractiveness of Kawagoe's traditional townscapes while combining it with modern conveniences and sensibilities. Bringing about the current Kwagoe Warehouse District that we know and love, with its beautiful traditional outer design, but modern shops brimming with vibrancy inside.
