Channel networks of rivers and moats and kura (the earthen-walled storehouses) characterized the Edo cityscape, and those river port cities in the Kanto area where the kura cityscape have survived such as Kawagoe, Tochigi, and Sawara are called "small Edo" for their architectural resemblance to Edo and the fact that these cities were actively traded with Edo.
川・堀の水路網と蔵は江戸を象徴する町並の特徴であり、蔵造りの町並が残された川越市、栃木市、佐原市などの関東地方の河港都市は、江戸に似た構造という点や江戸と交流が深かったという点から「小江戸」と呼ばれている。