Tourism Kawagoe virtual tour

Store operators along the Ichibangai shopping street here, famed for its row of traditional "kura" warehouses, are hoping an online tour can help them survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual Ichibangai, which can be accessed from the project's official website at (川越一番街商店街 | 蔵造りの町並み), allows people to see the storefronts, enter the businesses and buy items. But the main purpose of the project is to encourage tourists to visit the city once the new coronavirus pandemic is over. The online tour opens with a townscape of the kura warehouses. Visitors can rotate the scenery in all directions with a mouse and move along the street by clicking arrows on the screen. From the street, they can peep into 104 member stores of the cooperative union. About 70 of the shops are shown with a message window that says, "Have a look at the shop." When the window is clicked, a page opens to allow visitors to "enter" the shop. The interior image can be scrolled to show various parts of the store and offer closer looks at the shelves. A double circle further back of the interiors of about 30 shops can be used if visitors want to see their online stores.

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