During the Sengoku period, a time of constant wars and uprisings, Tondabayashi was a religious autonomous city with earthen walls and moats surrounding the Ikko sect's Koshoji Betsuin temple. The original town was six town and seven blocks long, about 400 meters east to west and 350 meters north to south, with four wooden gates on the perimeter, which were closed at night to maintain peace. The neat and tidy blocks of the past remain almost intact, and the remains of the earthen walls and the safety moats that remain partially intact recall the distant past. On Shironomon-suji, which runs north to south through the center of the town, about 250 of the 600 or so townhouses remain traditional houses, exuding history and dignity. The former Sugiyama Residence, located in the southwest of the town, is a nationally designated important cultural property, and the Nakamura Residence is a prefecturally designated tangible cultural property. The entire area is a nationally designated Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.