Tonomachi Street Tsuwano Merchant Quarter

 

Tsuwano, a former castle town in the remote mountains near the Shimane and Yamaguchi border is known as a "Little Kyoto".

Little Kyoto is actually a registered name you can use if you pay the organization the right fees, and I find it quite misleading. What it really means is there are historic attractions in a relatively small area, not that they are pretentious, overcrowded, and overpriced like the real Kyoto.

Tsuwano is also one of the more than 120 areas of Japan that is a Historic Preservation District. Actually the Japanese term is a long-winded title involving "traditional buildings," but I prefer the simplicity of Preservation District.

Tsuwano is also classified as a Japan Heritage site, a fairly recent system that includes sites and practices that they can't get onto UNESCO World Heritage status. Actually, that is a little cynical of me.... a lot of the Japan Heritage sites are quite interesting...

The preservation district in Tsuwano centres on Tonomachi Street, the main street of the old town, and it was in earlier days divided into the samurai section, closer to the castle, and the merchant section. At that time a huge gate separated the two sections. That gate is now relocated to be the gate of Yomeiji Temple.

Worth exploring are the narrow side streets...

In fact a few traditional ryokan are hidden away down side streets...

The main street does have some modern buildings on it, but also a range of traditional businesses...

There are a couple of sake breweries....... incidentally, the final photo of the post is from inside one Sake brewery.

There is a traditional rice shop, well worth visiting for the small ponds crammed full of koi in the rear...second photo of the post

There are some eateries and coffee shops....

My favorite though is a traditional pharmacy filled with weird and wonderful example of Chinese medicine....

The Japan Heritage information centre is also well worth a visit.....

In the next post I will look at the samurai quarter....

I have done quite a few posts on Tsuwano, click here to see some in reverse chronological order....

I have also posted on quite a few Preservation Districts, recent ones being Yanai in Yamaguchi and Yuasa in Wakayama.

The previous post was on the gardens at the Hori Mansion, a little out of town...

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Ikegami Merchant Mansion

 

Down below the former samurai district of the castle town of Takahashi in the mountains of Okayama is the merchant district of the old town.

The wealthiest merchant family was the Ikegami, and their property is open to the public as a kind of rest spot-information centre-musuem.

The family has been on this site since the early 18th century, initially with a store selling small goods.

Later the family expanded in the river trade with some kawabune boats and also money-lending, a lucrative business for many Japanese  merchants in the Edo Period.

Their greatest success came with the manufacture of soy sauce which reached its peak in  the Meiji period.

The current buildings date back no later than the mid 19th century as much of the town was destroyed by a fire in 1843.

It is quite a large property with many buildings including the residential part and with a long garden in between.

The storerooms to the rear contain a lot of exhibits pertaining to the manufacture of soy sauce.

Entry is free and there are sometimes staff on hand to offer information.

As far as I can tell this is the only traditional building in the merchant quarter that is open to the public.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the samurai mansion up the hill.