We both woke up this morning feeling a little off and with headaches. Not a bad day for this to happen as we only had plans to look around Hagi Town. It is a slightly sad town. No real centre, rather run-down in places, and almost a little abandoned. What is surprising is the role it played in Japan's past.
When the USA sent Commander Perry and his four powerful "black ships" across to Japan in the 1850s to force it to open up, Japan began to realise how far behind the rest of the world it had fallen during the previous several centuries of tightly-closed borders. A group of five young Hagi men between them became instrumental in setting up Japan's industrialisation, railways, economy, engineering skills, banking, political framework and more, in effect making Hagi the birthplace of the Meiji Restoration which dominated Japan from then on. Hagi has been the perfect place for learning more about the transformation of Japan once it decided its self-imposed isolationist policy was no longer viable.
After a breakfast of pot noodles we started with a visit to Meirin Gakusha. This was a massive wooden school complex, then the largest in all Japan, built on the site of previous schools and recently transformed into a tourist centre and museum explaining the role of the Hagi men in Japan's transformation. It being the end of Japan's Golden Week, it was pretty busy. At the entry there was the normal hassle of changing from outdoor footwear to supplied slippers. We should have worn slip-on shoes today as each visit required one or more swaps from shoes to socks or slippers.
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| Meirin Gakusha |
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| One of the early classrooms |
From Meirin Gakusha we headed to the Hagi Castle Town area, where the samurai and the wealthy merchants had their villas just outside the castle walls. This small district looks very much as it did back then. We visited a number of former residences. The standout was the Kikuya Residence, the main building of which dated back from 1652-1657. They all had lovely private gardens, often more than one.
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| Samurai and wealthy merchants quarter |
We do love the style of traditional architecture. It is largely open-plan, achieved through the use of sliding screens which can reduce large spaces into smaller rooms, or open interior spaces completely to the outside. Several of the villas had a cunning system where screens could all be slid along to one end and neatly stacked. Finishes were all natural, and it gives them a serene feel.
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| This modern style dates back to the 1650s! |
The store rooms were fascinating. These were rooms deliberately separated from the main house for fire reasons. They were very heavily built, and covered in fireproof plaster. Even the doors were perhaps 20cm thick with their plaster coating. In the centre there was often a pit lined with stone with a stone lid on top, set on rollers. This was where the family's valuables were stored, and in the main rom there would be spare rice and other goods.
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| A store room, pit in the centre. |
We were both feeling tired and slightly off-colour after our morning expedition so we opted to head back to our accommodation for a quiet afternoon rather than tackle any historic sites. A good rest perked us up and we later felt fine for going around the corner to a local izakaya eatery where we enjoyed a very nice simple meal.
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| Japanese streetscapes are not always like the brochures. The generic architecture is pretty ordinary. |
