Matsuai is a district that, from the Edo period to the Meiji period, flourished from fishing and the brewing industry, with the production of products like soy sauce and miso.
This area was dubbed “Higo daiichi no ryoshibaru,” or “the number one fishermen’s area in Higo,” and fish caught here was offered for use by the Higo Clan. Higo is the old name for current-day Kumamoto Prefecture. During the Bunsei years (1818–1831), the first fish market under the Hosokawa Clan was opened.
As Matsuai had a history of falling victim to fires, buildings with fire-resistant white earthen walls, alleys known as “fire prevention roads,” and other measures, all of which continue to exist today, were employed by the people at the time to address this problem.
Of the locations with these solutions implemented, Shiomizaka, or the tide-viewing slope, where old namako-kabe, walls with joints resembling sea cucumbers, are still in place, is said to have been the spot where fishermen would watch the tide go in and out, and it is a scene iconically representing Matsuai.