Mitarai Historic Preservation District

Mitarai is a well-preserved historic district on an island in the middle of the Inland Sea, its location being one of the main reasons it escaped redevelopment and modernization

Mitarai rose to prominence in the Edo Period as a safe harbour for the ships of this busy marine travel route. Mr Miyamoto, who unfortunately is no longer in business, was a boatbuilder who then turned to making realistic scale models of the kinds of vessels that plied these waters.

Mr Miyamotos premises were formerly one of the many waterfront teahouses that the port was famous for.

Of course "teahouse" really had very little to do with tea but is a codeword for brothel.

While ships would wait in the harbour for favorable tides and winds, the sailors and passengers would be entertained by young ladies.

A ranking system for "nighttime entertainment" districts was regularly published, like sumo rankings after which it was modelled, and Mitari was considered one of the top such districts in all of Japan.

Even after the introduction of steam-powered vessels, when the need for the harbour ceased to be, ships would still stop here.

Wakaebisuya was one of the top "teahouses" in Mitarai and catered to the high-end of the clientele, and it is said more than 100 girls worked here. There were many other teahouses and so the total number of prostitues was in the thousands. The 5 photos below are of Wakaebisuya, which is now open to the public.

It is said that in Wakaebisuya the daimyo of Kumamoto once spent 1,000 gold pieces in a single night.

sailors who had to stay on board their boats were served by girls who were ferried out to the ships in a kind of boat called Ochirofune.

The town continued to be known for its entertainment right up until the 1956 anti-prostitution law which put vpaid to many such districts across Japan.

Mitarai remained forgotten until 1999 when a series of bridges connected this group of islands to each other and the mainland.

MItarai was recognized as a Historical Preservation District not long afterwards and started to attract some more visitors, but still there were very limited options for eating or accommodation.

However, the 2021 Oscar-winning movie "Drive My Car" was partially filmed here and now there are several more lodging and dining choices.

As well as Wakaebisuya, there are several traditional buildings open to visitors.

Though only built in 1937, the Otome-za is a traditional Japanese theatre that was converted briefly into a cinema but has been restored to its former glory.

There is almost no public transport to easily reach Mitarai. There are some small ferries that connect to Omishima on the famed Shimanami Kaido route, and you can drive across the bridges from near Kure in Hiroshima.

Many people visit by bike as the Tobiishima Kaido is a cycle route along the islands, and of course its possible to connect with a short ferry ride to Omishima.

There is not much else to see on the island, but at the other end of the Tobiishima kaido the Shotoen is  well worth a visit.

The previous post in this series was on the walk along the islands to get here.

Odeonza Theater Wakimachi

 

Located in the small rural town of Wakimachi in rural Tokushima, the Wakimachi Gekijo is a fine example of an early 20^th Century Japanese theater.  

Due in large part to the bombing of most of Japan's major cities during  WWII, and also partly to the late 20^th Century Japanese tendency to demolish “old” buildings and replace them with newer, modern structures, very few examples of historic theaters still exist, and those that do are to be found in similar rural environments, like the Kaho Gekijo in Iizuka, Kyushu, or the Eirakukan Theatre in Izushi, Hyogo.

The Wakimachi Gekijo was built in 1934 with a capacity of 750, primarily for kabuki, and other popular entertainments like rokyoku, a form of storytelling with shamisen accompaniment.  

 In the postwar period it was converted into a cinema, though occasionally other types of entertainment would be performed. With the massive rural population drain to the big cities the theater, like so many others in similar situations, became uneconomical to operate and closed its doors in 1995.  

It was scheduled for demolition, but before that happened it was used as the setting and location for a movie about a run-down rural cinema. Directed by Yoji Yamada, the man responsible for the very successful “Tora-san” movie series, and starring Toshiyuki Nishida, the 1996 release of The Man Who Caught The Rainbow (虹をつかむ男 ) sparked an interest in the cinema and led to it being renovated and reopened where it is now often known as Odeon-za, it's name in the movie. Occasional performances do take place, but it is primarily a tourist attraction now.

Open from 9 to 5 and closed on Tuesdays, entry is 200 yen, 100 yen for children. There is also a special reduced price ticket that includes entry to the nearby Yoshida Residence.

140-1 Nishibun, Mima-shi, Tokushima 779-3602

Tel 0883 52 3807

I visited early on the third day of my walk along the Shikoku Fudo Myo Pilgrimage, and the previous post in that series was the 18th Century farmhouse of the nagaoka Family.

Eirakukan Kabuki Theatre

Eirakukan Kabuki Theatre

Located in the former castle town of Izushi in northern Hyogo, the Eirakukan is a traditional Japanesekabuki theatre open to the public.

Built in 1901 it is the oldest kabuki theatre in Kansai, and the oldest kabuki theatre in Japan still standing on its original site.

The theatre closed down in 1968 and was then renovated and restored and opened again in 2008 and while there are occasional perfrmances, it is primarily a tourist site now.

All parts of the theatre can be explored by visitors, including te stage and backstage areas. A highlight is going underneath the stage to see how the revolving stage, the mawari-butai, is operated.

There is a lot of advertising, inside and out, not just for the famous kabuki actors, but mostly for the sponsors and local companies.

I was maybe not as impressed as many visitors, probably because I had previously visited a couple of larger kabuki theatres down in Kyushu. The Kaho Gekijo Theatre in Iizuka, Fukuoka, has the largest revolving stage in Japan, and the Yachiyo-za in Yamaga, Kumamoto, both are somewhat larger than the Eirakukan.

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Yachiyo-za Theatre

 

Yachiyo-za is a traditional type of theatre that is located in the hot spring resort town of Yamaga, not far from Kumamoto City.

The ceiling is completely covered with advertisments, a tradition dating back to the Edo Period.

The theatre was built in 1910 and is now registered as an Important Cultural Property. Kabuiki and other types of performances are still held today, but during times of no performaces the theatre is open to visitors.

There is a small museum displaying costumes, props, playbills etc as well as an old projectore used to show movies.

Visitors are free to explore everywhere, including under the stage which has the human-powered rotating stage mechanism.

As Kabuki theaters go it is quite large, seating more than 1,200 people. By the 1980's it was long abandoned and derelict but it was decided to renovate rather than demolish.

Kaho Gekijo Theatre, Iizuka

Built in 1931 to replace several earlier versions that had been destroyed by fire and typhoon, this Kabuki theater was modeled on the Nakaza Theater in Osaka, and still holds kabuki performances and other plays and concerts.

For a provincial theater it is quite large, seating up to 1200 people. It claims to have the largest revolving stage in Japan, moved manually by 12 men. Visitors can explore the understage area as well as props room and other exhibitions.

There was once a total of 48 theaters serving this area known as Chikugo, but this is the only one remaining. Though Iizuka grew from being a post station on the Nagasaki Kaido, it flourished as the center of a massive coal industry starting in the Meiji period.

The coal industry was closed down, not because the coal ran out, but because the government mandarins chose to focus on cheap middle eastern oil, cheaper coal imports,  and then cheap nuclear for the country's power.