Historic non-museum towns

Hi,
I was watching the anime movie Miss Hokusai (2015) lately. Was quite inspired by the buildings for instance on this image:

https://i.ibb.co/P1BSQnK/snapshot20190302084732.jpg

I have been to Edo-Tokyo museum in Tokyo once, but I would love to see if there are preserved towns that do not act like a museum or theme park. Not sure what kind of places to look for though. Any suggestions?

Thank you.

The following come to my mind:

Kanazawa
Kakunodate
Imaicho
Kurashiki
Takayama
Hagi
Sawara

There are for sure more.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

There are 1000s. Normally referred to as old towns.

Within this website, you will find many. And google or localized tourism website can link you to many more.

What city are you visiting in Japan. This helps a lot. Also - when you say non-touristy, what exactly do you mean by that?

If you mean no tourists or tourist attractions, they won't be on JG. If you mean places where people still live, then there are tens in not hundreds of towns.

My favourite town that's a bit hard to get to is probably Hagi

My favorite old 'preserved' towns are Takayama and Kurashiki. They are both relatively big and touristy, but that makes them lively and feel like a real functioning town. Compared that to smaller places like Yanai or Sawara that comes to life only during weekends/holidays. Takayama and Kurashiki also do better job of making newer buildings blend in with old, because I really hate seeing a modern office building among 150 yr old houses.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2422.html

There are areas in Tokyo that have that old feel/town-scape (Kawagoe), as well as places that retain the old buildings as part of their operation as well (Ishikawa Brewery springs to mind http://tamajiman.co.jp/en/about/ - they had the foresight to briefly make "Japan Beer" back in 1888, and started making it again in the 1990's).

And, some of the historic museum/open air parks are pretty good.

Unfortunately, the same streets as Edo era are only on the museums and theme parks you visited.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machiya
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%94%BA%E5%B1%8B_(%E5%95%86%E5%AE%B6)

The mansion on the left side of the film image is a samurai residence(•�‰Æ‰®•~ buke-yashiki),
village headman(�¯‰® shoya), or owner house famous merchant(�¤�l shonin, �‹�¤ gosyo),
those are still left a lot.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%84%E5%B1%8B
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B1%AA%E5%95%86

Also, some of the places that other posters just pasted,
but which are quite different as regular town house in Edo,
such as Kawagoe, Magome and more are travelers rest town (�h�꒬shukuba machi),
and such old style hotels are called —·âÄ(hatago = lodge)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shukuba
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatago

Although it is not as dramatic as Sarusuberi - Miss Hokusai,
these titles are easier to understand the lives of ordinary people in Edo.
However, all are comedy or fiction, many items that are not in the Edo era are also used.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh!_Edo_Rocket
http://www.rakugo-tennyo.com/index.html
https://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/roman/index2.html

Is this of interest? There are blogs available.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7710.html
https://randomwire.com/ouchijuku-post-town/

As mentioned above by JCT: Kawagoe is easily accessible from Tokyo

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6501.html

One vote for Hagi.
http://www.geocities.jp/usagi_yokohama_2010/bukeyasiki/hagi.html

Another vote for Hagi.

Also I like Kawagoe which is a day trip from Tokyo-we got an offer from Seibu-Shinjuku station.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6500.html

Kawagoe is a pleasant merchant area but not at all like the image the OP linked to due to it being architecturally different and very busy.
The anime image reminded me of Kanazawa's Nagamachi area, eg. https://temporarilylost.com/2012/09/06/admiring-the-garden-views-over-...

Dud link above
https://temporarilylost.com/2012/09/06/admiring-the-garden-views-over-...

Yes love Hagi too. A bit limited public transport to get to Hagi but the two circular tourist routes by Hagi City Maru Bus are really convenient.