Ai Nishimura
Administrator of the blog "My Diary," which began in 2004. A writer who has traveled to all 47 prefectures and loves local culture and history.
Author of Shimane's "Geography, Place Names, and Maps" Mysteries (Jitsugyo no Nihonsha), My Town is the "Number One in Japan" Dictionary (PHP Institute), and Prefectures Explained in Neko Neko Japanese History (Jitsugyo no Nihonsha). Official blogger for Suntory Gourmet Guide, official top user for Retty, and official platinum blogger for Excite.
Just 25 minutes from the airport, head towards Takehara, a town that once flourished as a salt field.
I wondered why the plane was slowly descending to Hiroshima Airport and not getting through the clouds, but it was a thick fog. Hiroshima Airport is located in the mountains and is prone to fog, but a follower told me that the airport is fully equipped to land safely even in thick fog, so I understood!
From here, take a limousine taxi to the Takehara Town Preservation District. Takehara, also known as the "Little Kyoto of Aki," is close to the airport, so it might be a good idea to stop by on your way back.
The Takehara Town Preservation District is within walking distance from the station.
This elegant town is lined with wealthy merchants and salt wholesalers. You can see the historic streets, immersing you in a landscape that makes you feel like you've traveled back in time.
Take a morning flight to Hiroshima Airport! Your first destination is Takehara.
The sky was clear and the flight was stable and smooth without any delays.
It takes about 25 minutes from the airport to Takehara by limousine taxi. It seats 9 people, so it's best to make a reservation.
The area around Hiroshima Airport is also foggy. You can't see anything of the terraced fields and red tiled roof houses of Mihara city!
Once you arrive at Takehara Station, head to the "Takehara Townscape Preservation District," which is just a few minutes away. Takehara is a town that prospered as a salt field. There was a small shrine just before the entrance.
"Izumo Shrine." It's a small town, but it seems that many shrines are enshrined here.
This Sumiyoshi Daijingu Shrine is a strange shrine in that the lion-dogs are located behind the main shrine. Did they just move the lion-dogs or did they move the main shrine forward? Or was it always like this?
Once you see the roadside station "Takehara", you've entered the old town area.
A great success in Shiohama! Wealthy merchants left behind a quaint town.
The history of salt production in Takehara dates back to the Edo period.
During the Keian period, the reclaimed land was too salty to be cultivated and was left abandoned. Since crops could not be grown on the land, a suggestion was made to turn it into a salt field. The Takehara residents invited craftsmen from Ako to learn salt-making techniques and converted the land into a salt field.
This went extremely well and led to rapid growth, and merchants from all over the country began to flock to manage salt fields.
Takehara has many old and modern buildings, and it's fun to look around them. This was a former soba restaurant.
This is a photo studio. It is a three-story wooden building with an elaborate font design for the shop name.
All the houses are impressive, with curved roofs and ink-colored plaster walls that look like they've been mixed with charcoal.
In fact, this is also the birthplace of Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of Nikka Whisky. His family runs the sake brewery Taketsuru Sake Brewery, which was founded in 1733.
A street lined with white plaster and lattice doors.
There are bamboo crafts and bamboo decorations, creating a Japanese atmosphere. As the town of bamboo, Takehara also holds events using bamboo lights.
Honkawa. This was an artificial river and a port. Salt made in Takehara was transported all over Japan through here.
The tourist pass is convenient for getting around Takehara. However, please note that the closed days of the paid facilities vary.
First of all, this roof is amazing! The Matsusaka Residence is located on the same street as the Taketsuru Sake Brewery. As a tile lover, I love tiles and this gets my blood pumping.
This traditional Japanese-style house was designed in the Sukiya style, incorporating stylish design elements such as round windows.
Ajiro ceilings are quite common, but this was my first time seeing a jiro corridor!
The garden is also very well maintained, so I recommend you go inside and enjoy it as well as just looking at it from the outside.
Shunpukan was the residence of Shunpu, the uncle of Confucian scholar Rai Sanyo, and next to it was the detached room of the Fukkokan building called "Hikarimoto Residence."
The bronze statue is of Rai Sanyo. His uncle, Harukaze, was a doctor, but later ran a salt farm and built a large mansion in Takehara. Later, the Mitsumoto family lived in the annex of the Fukkokan building, and it is open to the public under the name Mitsumoto Residence.
The shoji screens are sandwiched between different shaped kumiko panels, creating a stylish design that allows light to shine through. The olive green color is also beautiful.
The Morikawa Residence, the former residence of Hamadanna, is an impressive example of artistic design.
The Morikawa Residence is the former home of a salt producer known as a "hamadanna" who made his fortune in salt fields. Like the Morikawa family, there are many hamadannas in Takehara who made their fortune in salt fields and expanded into other businesses to become big businessmen.
The Morikawa residence was relocated and expanded from the former residence of the Yamaji family in Fukuyama City, and so two family crests can be seen on the roof. Another notable feature of the house is that it is made of three types of precious wood: ironwood, rosewood, and ebony.
It is a valuable building that allows visitors to see the lifestyle of wealthy merchants in the Taisho period, as well as their architectural culture and artistic excellence. It has an area of 192.5 tatami mats, 29 rooms over two floors, and a vast area with a Japanese-style garden.
This mansion is a symbol of Takehara's prosperity at the time, when, through wisdom and hard work, an economy was created from unused land.
Unfortunately, it was raining heavily and I couldn't walk around Takehara at my leisure. However, there are many things to see, so if you set aside plenty of time, you can enjoy the town more. I'll see as much as I can and then move on to Okunoshima. The Morikawa Residence is a well-preserved, high-quality mansion.
There are five Japanese-style rooms in the back. This is a good spot in the house to see the garden across the veranda. At the very back is a guest room with a tokonoma alcove.
A long veranda. Pay attention to the ceiling here. The long beam in the upper left of the photo. This is actually a long log. It is a magnificent beam made by joining two long logs together.
The main house and garden seen from the detached room. The detached room was relocated and then expanded during the Taisho period.
The design of the detached tatami room is also very beautiful, with artistic kumiko that shines through in the light. It has been praised for having retained the original style from when it was made.
The garden is also well maintained.
The tiles on the later extension bear the Morikawa family crest.
There is a dirt floor at the back, and the house is supported by impressive beams.
Lastly, the ceiling of the carriageway at the entrance. This was added in the Taisho period and is the only Western-style part in this purely Japanese-style mansion.
Read the second part here
The contents published are accurate at the time of publication and are subject to change.
