Stroll in Tanba Sasayama

At the beginning of March, we went to Tanba Sasayama in Hyogo-Prefecture. It takes about one hour from JR Osaka Station by a rapid-service train. We got off at Sasayama-guchi Station. Sasayama was constructed as a castle town of Sasayama-jyo Castle in Edo Period. We headed for a “Group of Kawaramachi-Tsumairi merchant houses,” where “Tsumairi merchant houses” (merchant houses having a narrow width and long length) are clustered together. This was about 15 minutes from the station. In this area, old houses built in the Edo Period stand in a row, and it was chosen as “Prevervation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings” by our country. The old houses are used as they are, or are used as  restaurants or coffee shops refurbishing the inside thereof.

We stopped by a soba shop for lunch.

After having a good meal, we started exploring the town landscape exploration. In this street, there’s not only the merchant houses but also some Buddhist temples and they coexist with each other without any discomfort. Here is “Shinpuku-ji Temple.”

We strolled along the street.

Here is “Honkei-ji Temple,” which was a temple with graves of feudal lord family members in the Edo Period.

We strolled along the street again.

Articles in a showcase in an antique shop.

Here is “Kannon-ji Temple.”

We left Kawaramachi from here and walked toward the ruins of Sasayama-jyo Castle. Is this a bus stop? I felt something nostalgic here.

These are the ruins of Sasayama-jyo Castle.

An exquisite board fence. There were samurai residences around the moat of the Sasayama-jyo Castle in Edo Period.

 

A building with a straw-thatched roof, which is rare nowadays. This building is designated as a cultural asset by Hyogo-Prefecture.

 

We took a rest at a tearoom. This is an oolong tearoom, whose building is an old house in which only the interior is refurbished.

Leaving the tearoom, we went on food along the moat of the castle.

When April comes, cherry blossoms will bloom.

Now, it is the flowering season of plum.

Photoed by R.

Unexpectedly, on that day, the Sasayama Marathon Race was held. We cheered on the runners from the sidewalk.

In Sasayama, we saw many places where old houses were not broken but were put to good use. The old houses seem to make me, who pass busy days, remember something from my past which I had forgotten, from not only the appearance but also the atmosphere of the interior in which time goes by slowly.