The whole area of present Takayama City and its vicinity in Gifu Prefecture was the domain of the Kanamori clan in the 17th century. This old building in the picture originally was built as their villa out of the castle grounds. As this area was blessed with good lumber, charcoal, gold and ironstone, the central government in Edo, present Tokyo, ordered them to yield this area , their domain. This area changed to "tenryo",meaning the area under the direct control of the "shogun" in Edo. This building consequently had been used as the house and office of a governor dispatched by the shogun since then. This kind of building was called jinya, and high-ranking officers, the so-called "daikan" or "gundai", stationed themselves on behalf of the shogun every several years on average. There were 60 jinyas in Japan in the 19th century though, this jinya is the one and only one in existence. The picture shows the official entrance of Takayama Jinya. Inside this building, a unique museum, which is converted from the warehouse for the rice paid as tax in the feudal years, is found. A variety of informative materials, showing the daily life of the locals, are on display.
Licensed tour guide, travel consultant.
Masahisa Takaki.
通訳案内士 高木聖久。
