There was a volunteer guide inside the mansion who explained things to me at an exquisite distance, and it was a completely different experience than seeing it alone.
The building was in an amazing state of preservation, and I could sense the love for the local area from the people at the reception desk.
As I was walking down the main street, I noticed a magnificent building so I decided to go in.
Our experienced guide was a great talker and gave a fun and detailed explanation, so I learned a lot of things.
If you can find a guide at reception, I recommend asking for one, as it will definitely be more fun and informative.
Thanks to him, I have fond memories of Yakage.
I saw a discount ticket at the Yakage roadside station so I went to see it.
The old street side was the Honjin inn and the back was a sake brewery.
At the Honjin, we could see the old lord's room.
The sake brewery part was like a museum with various explanatory panels and Satsuma portable bathtubs on display.
At the very back there was a shrine-like thing with a painting of Yoshitsune and Benkei?
On my way out the attendant explained to me about the maids' room on the second floor. The exit door at the bottom of the old staircase can only be opened from the outside, what would they do in case of a fire? It was a pretty scary story.
The vast grounds of about 1000 tsubo (approximately 3300m²) and the Ishii family mansion were quite a sight to behold. The admission fee is 500 yen for adults aged high school and above. There are audio guides at each location, which was enough to help you understand the area. The courtyard was also well-maintained by the gardeners, giving it a charming feel. There is plenty of free parking in Yakage, making it easy to stop by. It would also be nice to see it together with the Takakusa family residence, a wakihonjin (side honjin) residence.
This is the former Yakage Honjin Ishii family residence.
It's a long post, but please read it if you are interested.
Many ancient documents related to early modern transportation have been handed down to the Ishii family, including a record of Atsuhime Tenshoin staying at Yakage Honjin on her way from Satsuma to marry the 13th Tokugawa Shogun Iesada. It is believed that he stayed overnight on September 17th, and in the ``Shukukata Gokyu Hakudome,'' which is the accommodation record of the Honjin, the September 1853 (Kaei 6) The text reads, ``Three pieces of silver received by the daughter of the Shogun and the Princess of Satshu, and the number of 52 people who stayed at the main shrine, including maidservants and samurai guards, and meal arrangements.'' The lodging records of the inns around the main shrine for the same month include ``Satsushu Princess' overnight stay,'' and it is said that over 200 retainers stayed at 33 inns.
Atsuhime is currently being rebroadcast on NHK-BS, so I was intrigued to find out how timely it was. This is because, in the drama, Atsuhime crosses the Seto Inland Sea by boat on her way from Satsuma, and there is no depiction of her passing through Yakage inland. When I asked the guide about this, he explained that in the novel "Tenshoin Atsuhime" by Tomiko Miyao, which was the basis for the taiga drama, Atsuhime's party leaves the port near Cape Toi in Miyazaki Prefecture, passes through Hososhima Port in Miyazaki Prefecture, Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and then sails through the Seto Inland Sea. Although the drama adopted the ``sea route theory'' even though the course was partially changed, in reality, the sea route was under tension due to the arrival of black ships and other events during this period, and it seems that it was normal to take the land route. NHK also responded to a question from a reader by saying, ``It seems like it was actually a land route.''
Below is from HP
The Ishii family served as the honjin of Yakage-juku for generations during the Edo period, and their house is currently designated as a national important cultural property.
Honjin was used as a place for lodging and rest for daimyo, court nobles, and shogunate officials who commuted between Edo and Kunimoto on the sankin kotaho. There are records that not only humans but also elephants, seen by the shogun, sometimes stopped by on their way from Nagasaki to Edo.
The existing Ishii family buildings were built in the mid to late Edo period and have been successively renovated until now. On the approximately 1,000 tsubo (approximately 3,200 m2) grounds, there are a total of more than ten buildings, including the main building, a parlor with an upper room, an Onari gate, and other guest facilities, as well as a main building, an inner storehouse, a sake storehouse, and a west storehouse for the family's living space and for running the family's sake brewing business.
