Nostalgic Japan – Edo Era House

Nostalgic Japan – Edo Era House

So today we’re enjoying this wonderful wind at Kazawa Gongyama Park. This was a trail to a mountain, but because they’ve restored this house from the early 1600s, um it was actually a shrine way back the Tokugawa era during Ado period. And actually the coastline, this is a mountain they didn’t cut into to build houses. If you can see the coast over there, the bay known as Ohake going down to Opama. This is looking back towards Yokohama. And then this old house that they’ve preserved from, I think6006 is down at the bottom of the hill. We’re going to walk down there. I was really hoping that I could access the mountain, but there’s a rather nasty fence that they don’t want you going there, and so I’m not going to challenge it with my old bones, but it’s a really neat bit of history. They’ve restored the house, and I knew that before they filled in a lot of these areas in Yakoska, as well as in Tokyo, that the coastline went up to these hills and there continued to be erosion. And that’s one reason you get these curves and interesting the clevies and things. You can see how it the water would have been right very close to where that house is. That’s the old house. Here’s another bay is over off in the distance. This trail probably would go through, but we’ll go down. That’s Kazawa station. And this is the middle of the park. And that’s the house. More in a minute. So, we’re midway down the trail now. This looks like it was an old cave, but I have to say that’s the most bizarre looking liquid I think I’ve ever seen. It looks like it might have been a well. I have to go back and translate that. Uh, we’ll keep going down. So, this is the house. They have a nice park and a area where you can actually sit and it’s air conditioned, which in this heat is great. This is an ancient tree. The roofs are typical of the old houses, the old farm houses from the 1600s. So, this is the inside of the house. You can smells very smoky. It’s kind of interesting. They went to a lot of trouble to restore it. that opened in 2022. These uh Oh, this AC feels so good. The show screens, of course, are very common. This is this neat roof structure. Anyway, we’re about to run out. Hope you like this place. It’s by Kanazawa. So, today we’re at Kanazawa Goganyama Park. Goanyama is over here. I tried to access it from the top, but because this is a park administered by Kanagawa, it’s blocked off and there’s a big fence. But it’s kind of cool. Anyway, this is from6006. The ocean used to be like right there where Kazawa station is. You can see this history, but this there was a shrine here way back. Uh but this is a traditional thatch roof place common during the ado period. Uh Yasu uh Tokugawa had ordered this area and ordered this shrine. It’s quite a beautiful traditional house. They went to a lot of trouble to restore it. Tatami this beautiful showji screen and seating area overlooking the garden. The fountain that would have had water at one point, probably koi as well. This old style plaster with the wood. It’s really hot and humid, so this air conditioning feels great. This is the traditional ceiling and roof. How they supported it. All the hand joinery and the way they tied it. The Japanese craftsmanship is so impressive. This shows the process of excavation and renovation. Anyway, if you’re in Kazawa, this would be a great spot to visit. They have a neat timeline showing the history from 1603. By the way, we’re only a few miles from Opama. This shows the overview, which was the first Nissan plant in Japan and kind of started the whole craze of manufacturing. Sadly, that plant’s been closed and Opama has fallen under really bad circumstances. I’ll be showing more of Opama later. Anyway, come to this place. It’s really cool. Take care.

I take a hot summer walk around Kanazawa Hakkei Gongenyama Park, an historic, Edo Era house and park grounds.