The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationship between the existence of centrality in market towns and the landscape of the market place on the Echigo Plain since the 18th century. In recent years, academic debate on the landscape of market places and market towns has focused on reconstructing the spatial structure of particular objects. However, trade interactions also created networks among towns. Therefore, in discussing the landscape of market towns, it is useful to explore individual objects while at the same time discussing the idea of centrality.
In section one, the relation between the existence of Gangi, a structure which is shaped like an arcade with the eaves of adjacent buildings stretching over the pavement to form a street village, and the idea of centrality was made clear by making the landscape of market places a model for further investigation. As the result of the analysis, it was concluded that market towns where Gangi had been constructed had a high degree of centrality and that those without had a low degree of centrality in the early Meiji Era. Market towns on the Echigo Plain are separated into the following two types. One had a high degree of centrality, owing to the presence of Gangi. The others, without the structures necessary for clearing centrality, were unable to continue to hold periodic markets.
In section two, I analyze in detail how the space under the Gangi was used by reconstructing the spatial structure of the market place as it appeared in the market town of Kamo. This analysis aims to examine the causal relationship between centrality and the historical process under which the Gangi developed, a relationship about which historical records are scarce. As the result of the analysis, I explain that the Gangi was actively used as a show space in the periodic market in Kamo. I suggest that the advantages in terms of show space offered by the Gangi were critical in producing the relationship between the existence of the Gangi and the presence of periodic markets.
I conclude that the Gangi is a characteristic formation of centrality.
