Tondabayashi Jinaimachi

Tondabayashi Jinaimachi (富田林寺内町) is a popular name of the old temple-based town (Jinaimachi) located in Tondabayashi City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of the Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings in Tondabayashi-shi Tondabayashi (富田林市富田林重要伝統的建造物群保存地区). The town has remains of old town blocks from the Sengoku period, and a number of old machiyas (traditional wooden town residences) built from the mid-Edo period on. A large portion of the historical townscape was selected in 1997 as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. In 2018, the rest of the area was added.
Geography.
Tondabayashi Jinaimachi is located at the center of the city, on a fluvial terrace at left bank of the Ishi river and the midstream. Most of old town area fall within the jurisdiction of Tondabayashi-cho(富田林町), rest of the area is in Hon-machi(本町). Tondabayashi-cho adhere fundamentally to the old town since edo piriod.
The town has an area of 12.9 hectares. It was formed in an ellipsoidal form, measuring 400m from east to west and 350m from north to south. The town layout was designed with a grid plan, which consists of 6 streets in a north-south direction, 7 streets in an east-west direction in the town. There are 25 quadrilateral town blocks in center, and 16 irregular town blocks in the outer edge.
The relative elevation is about 10m from the river to the town. It used a natural terrace cliff to construct the 
earthworks(土居, doi) with bamboo groves at the eastern, southern and western edge of the town, and the dug-out moat(堀割, horiwari) at the northern edge.
History.
About 1558(Eiroku 1), Kosho-ji temple obtained a wasteland of the Tonda(富田) for temple grounds. Kosho-ji temple cooperated with 8 headmans(八人衆) to construct a branch temple, town blocks, residences and dry fields. They changed name of Jinaimachi to Tondabayashi(富田林).
In sengoku period, Kosho-ji branch temple(興正寺別院) and Jinaimachi were granted privileges and immunities by authorities. Town peoples governed autonomously against a background of religious authority of Kosho-ji temple.
Over edo period, though the town forfeited privileges and immunities in early edo period, the town had been developed as Zaigoumachi(在郷町, merchant town in country side). Many peoples came out from surrounding villages, the town prospered with wealthy merchants who deal in lumber, cotton, rapeseed oil, and sake.
After Meiji Restoration, the town continued to prosper as the political and commercial center of southern Kawachi. From latter Meiji period onward, the town headed gradually decline on the grounds of an opening of railway, land reform, motorization. As a result of that it was left out of postwar development, the town bring down old townscape.