The Kaiju Mirai Project is based in the Kaiju district of Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture, Japan, which is rich in history and traditional culture. Our base is in a unique location, a former sushi restaurant standing on Japan's oldest national highway. 

It is run by artists associated with the community. The purpose of this project is to discover local values and to promote the culture and lifestyle of Sakurai City from the past to the future.

The base house ( former sushi bar) is on the "Takeuchi-Kaido, Yoko Oji ( Ise-Kaido )," the oldest government road in Japan, which was opened 1,400 years ago. This highway connects Namba in Osaka to Asuka in Nara in a straight line. Dating back to the Asuka Period, it is mentioned in the Nihon Shoki (the oldest chronicle of Japan) that Emperor Toshitatsu (the 30th emperor) built the Osada Sachitamanomiya (palace) here.

During the Nanbokucho Period (14th century ), Miwa Seia ( Kaiju Seia ) built Kaiju Castle and a moat was constructed on three sides. After the Warring States Period(15-16th century ), Nagamasa Oda (brother of Nobunaga) built the Kaiju Camp and the town prospered as a castle town. After that, the town continued to develop and extended to the Ise-Kaido.

When the Sakurai Station of the Japanese National Railways (1893) opened in the Meiji Period, the entire town became even more vibrant and crowded with people, with sake breweries, oil shops, tofu shops, kimono shops, Japanese confectionery shops, and green groceries stores.

Although the main shopping street was hit by World War II, it was completely rebuilt by the people and remained in business until just 30 years ago. Today, most of the stores have been replaced by residences and vacant houses. However, the long and deep history of the town still lives on in our daily lives.