HITA, Japan -- Hita, located in the northern part of Kyushu Island's Oita prefecture, is a pleasant provincial town with glimpses of nearby hills and modest mountain peaks. It is a well-watered spot, with four nearby rivers, but much of it is also a chaotic mashup of roads, uncoordinated buildings, overhead wires and cables, in common with countless other towns in Japan.
However, in almost accusative contrast to the shambolic streets of the newer areas of town, the highly ordered district of Mamedamachi, built in Japan's Edo period (1603-1868), forms a perfect quadrangle of precisely rectilinear lanes and stylistically matched structures.
