Uochu stands in the old town of Otsu City, which was the last post town (the 53rd post town from Edo) of the old Tokaido Highway running between Edo and Kyoto. This wooden building originally was the house of a wealthy kimono fabrics dealer built in 1905, and still maintains the original design. The garden as shown in the first photo was designed by a renowned gardener the 7th Ogawa Jihei, who also created the garden of Heian Shrine as well as Maruyama Park in Kyoto. Hence, Uochu features the Japanese-style dining room facing this refined garden. The second photo shows a tsuboniwa, very small inner garden created by using various kinds of small garden stones, moss and the like. The third photo is the façade of the building. This building was designed and built by Sakurai Katsujiro, a well-known carpenter in this region, and has similarity in design to machiya, traditional wooden town houses in Kyoto.
Licensed tour guide, travel consultant,
Masahisa Takaki.
全国通訳案内士 高木聖久。
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