A small shrine hiding in a small garden
Those of you who've read the previous post in this entry may remember that I was the only guest staying at Ted's Guest House & Cycle Activity Center in the small Ehime Prefecture 愛媛県 city of Uchiko 内子. You may also recall that the staff went home for the evening, leaving me alone in the now-deserted three-story building. This post would probably be a much more interesting read if I lied and wrote about the eerie events that took place that night, but in truth nothing at all out of the ordinary happened. No strange sounds, no movements out of the corner of my eye, no sudden coldness in the air, nothing. Like the presenters in those ghost hunters shows on TV, I would have to fake everything to make the night more interesting than it actually was.
But just because the night there was ho-hum doesn't mean Ted's wasn't worth the stay. Quite the contrary, in fact. Though my room was small (it was a guesthouse, after all), everything (including the shower room and the toilet) was clean. More importantly, the couple running the establishment was very welcoming (a common trait shared at the other two guesthouses where I stayed on this trip). I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Ted's to any traveler planning an overnight stay in Uchiko.
Ponzu, the resident 5-year-old Shiba Inu 柴犬, was also very friendly, and a welcoming sight as I made my way downstairs in the morning:
And that 朝食 was a delicious way to start off the day!:
Uchiko first came to prominence as a major center for the production of
Japanese wax 木蝋, which was (or is, as the wax is still used in the production of candles, computer disks, cosmetics, crayons, food and polishes) made from crushed sumac berries. The wealth derived from this wax industry in the Edo- 江戸時代 and Meiji- 明治時代 periods is the reason why Uchiko today has many picturesque houses preserved in the town's Yōkaichi 八日市 Historic District, which in turn are attracting a growning number of domestic and international tourists.
My first stop of the day was at the
Museum of Commerce and Domestic Life 商いと暮らし博物館, located in a converted merchant's house. Mechanical wax dummies demonstrate the daily life of a shopkeeper in the
Taishō era 大正時代. The mannequins speak in Japanese, but an English pamphlet provides a translation what they are saying (often in the form of complaints):
The guidebooks all agree on the traditional kabuki 歌舞伎 theater
Uchiko-za 内子座 (built in 1916, and restored, including with a revolving stage, in 1985) as being a highight of any exploration of the town. Unfortunately for me, the theater was undergoing extensive renovations at the time of my visit. This is what the Uchiko-za should look like:
And this is how it appeared on the morning when I showed up:
Still, I was able to see some of the theater's interior, with a guide providing a detailed tour (in Japanese) on the establishment's history, as well as the functions of some of its rooms, such as this dressing room:
Here she instructed me to strike a kabuki prose. I couldn't refuse:
Back outside and wandering the picturesque streets of Yokaichi:
The Hon-Haga Residence 本芳我家, home to the main family behind Uchiko's wax industry, was closed to the public, but the attractive garden could be entered:
From there it was on to the
Kamihaga Residence 上芳我低 and Wax Museum 木蝋資料館. The Kamihaga family is one line of the Honhaga family lineage. The main building was constructed in 1894, and visitors can experience the lifestyle of a wealthy merchant during that time:
The ceiling in the main building was never finished due to the sudden death of the head of the Kamihaga family, so the interior of the roof can be clearly seen:
In the center of the complex is a garden with a small shrine (see photo at the start of this post):
The
hanare-zashiki 離座敷, a detached bedroom used by guests:
The toilet. If you can zoom in on the sign, you will notice it states the commode is part of the exhibition and is not intended for the use of visitors. Which leads one to think something may have occurred in the past:
Entry to the informative Japanese Wax Museum is included in the admission (I'm including the captions out of nothing more than laziness):
A sumac tree stands in the courtyard. Sumac berries were used in the production of wax:
Walking past the Ōmura Family Residence 大村家, the Edo period home of a dye-house merchant that can only be viewed from the outside:
By this time I had worked up an appetite, so I stopped at Kanade, a small cafe/bar, to have some carbonara for lunch, washed down with a Calpis Soda カルピスソーダ (no beer, as I would be driving later that afternoon):
After lunch I made a short detour to have a gander at the
Takahashi Residence 高橋邸. The two-story building was the birthplace of Takahashi Ryūtarō 高橋龍太郎, a former Minister of International Trade and Industry (his grandson Yoshitaka 高橋吉隆 was a former chairman of Asahi Breweries アサヒビール株式会社). In the ground floor reception room were some German steins and a baseball uniform of the
Takahashi Unions 高橋ユニオンズ:
The house is a combination of Japanese and Western styles, a common feature of the homes of the wealthy elite during the early part of the 20th century:
The view from upstairs. The Takahashi Residence can be booked as a
minshuku 民宿 for a single group of up to ten people:
And with that, I was done with Uchiko, which turned out to be an enjoyable destination. From there I drove in my rented Toyota Corolla for a little over an hour to Matsuyama 松山, Shikoku's 四国 largest city and the capital of Ehime-ken. I had a view of Matsuyama Castle 松山城 from my room on the 10th floor of the
Hotel Mystays Matsuyama ホテルマイステイズ松山, which would be my home away from home for the next four nights:
After checking in and dropping off my things, I walked over to the
Iyotetsu Takashimaya Department Store, where I purchased a book and some local beers. Feeling tired and not very hungry, I contented myself with a quick meal at
Lotteria ロッテリア:
Strolling through the
Gintengai 銀天街 shopping arcade:
For me the evening concluded back at the hotel with an
Umenishiki Aromatic Ale Ehime Craft Beer (8.5%), while doing some laundry and watching the Hanshin Tigers 阪神タイガース- 埼玉西武ライオンズ Saitama Seibu Lions game on TV:
Out of the four main cities on Shikoku, Matsuyama would turn out to be my favorite*. That would be in spite of the brutally humid and rainy weather, which would make at least one of the following days an ordeal at times. Please read the next installment and feel free to sweat in sympathy with your humble scribe.
*Could it be due in some small part to the fact that Matsuyama is a sister city of Sacramento, the place I consider the closest to being a hometown?
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