Kakunodate Brochure

Kakunodate

A Misawa ITT Tour All prices, schedules, phone numbers, and some information provided in this brochure are subject to change without prior notice.

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Kakunodate & The Cherry Trees

A former castle town in today’s Akita Prefecture, Kakunodate is well known for its beautifully preserved samurai district and spectacular cherry blossom festival.

Most of Kakunodate’s samurai houses, six of which are open to the public, stand behind wooden fences and gates along a central avenue which is lined by tall oak and weeping cherry trees.

Among the most popular mansions open to the public are the Ishiguro Samurai House, the former residence of Kakunodate’s highest ranked family, and the Aoyagi Samurai House, which exhibits arms, antiques, and other family treasures.

Flanking Buke Yashiki-dori, or the street of samurai manors, are 152 weeping cherry trees, designated as natural monuments by the national government in 1974. They were implanted from Kyoto during the Edo Period between 1603 to 1868, when local samurai families competed to have the most beautiful trees in their gardens. Their efforts have made the district one of Japan’s most beautiful places to visit.

In addition, several hundreds of somei yoshino cherry trees were later planted along Hinokinai River, which runs through Kakunodate, providing an excellent setting for hanami picnics and viewing parties.

Around one million people visit Kakunodate’s sakura matsuri or the cherry blossom festival each year. The blossoms are usually at their best and fullest bloom during the Golden Week in late April and early May. The kaba zaiku cherry bark handicraft is a specialty of Kakunodate. Visitors can purchase wood products such as tea canisters, medicine cases, and furniture overlaid with veneers made of barks peeled off yamazakura cherry trees.

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Aoyagi House

Aoyagi Samurai Manor is one of the best preserved architectural

beauties of its kind in Japan. Founded on the rich traditions of the Aoyagi family, the manor became a musuem in 1989. The estate hosts the Main House, the Armory, the Seiryu-an Gallery, the Akita Folk Museum, the Samurai Tools and Utensils Museum, the Antique Museum and Tea Room, gift shops, and a beautiful garden.

Items on display from the 17th through 20th centuries include: samurai swords, utensils, clothing, toys, hanging scrolls, pictures, and documents.

Some items have earned the designation as important cultural properties from the national, prefectural, or municipal government.

Unlike other museums, all the items on display were either built or collected by the Aoyagi family members, some from descendants as recent as 1985.

The main gate to the manor, Yakui Mon sports a roof with magnificent decorations, overwhelming other samurai manor gates in town. In feudal Japan, gates symbolized the social prestige of their owners. The family built the gate in 1860 after the feudal lord of Kakunodate gave special permission as a reward for their contribution to the area.

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Aoyagi House The Main House is one of the best preserved samurai residences in the nation. The L-shaped structure has three entrances leading to separate areas, whose use was under tight regulation according to one’s social class.

The ornate front door and the vestibule lead to the guest room, which was only for visitors of very high status, and therefore, rarely in use. Wooden verandas border the guest room, allowing visitors to enjoy the view of the garden.

The middle door leads to the area for family members and close friends. To the right is the room of the head of the family, and to the left is the dining room. The door has grills on either side, allowing the servants to inspect visitors from inside. The side door leads to the kitchen and was for servants.

THE ARMORY A collection of swords, armors, helmets, guns, and war flags from the 15th through the 19th centuries occupy the first floor. Special items include a triple-barrelled matchlock gun, a double-breasted, black-lacquered armor, and folding armor. Also on display, are flower-dyed silk kimonos donned by samurai brides at weddings.

The second floor has displays depicting the samurai lifestyle in the Edo period. The collection features clothes, toys, and books, as well as wooden dolls crafted by Takemura Bunkai, a renowned artist born in Kakunodate.

SEIRYU-AN GALLERY This building accommodates precious scrolls, pictures, books, and prints discovered in the family storehouses. Exhibits change from time to time with different themes.

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Aoyagi House THE GARDEN This compact botanical garden always greets visitors with flowers of the season an a beautiful pond. Hundreds of rare plants, including aoyagi Yae Beni Shidare Zakura, a species found only in this garden, flourish with the tender care of experienced gardeners.

Odano Naotake (1749-80) was a Kakunodate-born samurai and a remote relative of the Aoyagi clan. He rose to fame for his illustrations of the human body in “Kaitai Shinsho,” the first translation of a Dutch book on anatomy published in Japan in 1774. A copy of the first edition is on display in the Antique Museum.

The Aoyagi lineage goes as far back as the 16th century. The family founder, Aoyagi Touemon, first became a vassal of Lord Ashina of Hitach (about 350 kilometers southwest of Kakunodate) in 1570. The family moved to Kakunodate following Lord Ashina when the shogun overlord transferred the master to the Akita domain in 1603. The Ashina reign only lasted for three generations, and the Aoyagi clan came to serve the second master, Lord Satake-Kita, in 1653. The new lord appointed Aoyagi to the important role of Nanbu Sakaime Yamayaku, or chief of Nanbu area boundary guards.

In the next two centuries, the family enjoyed a steady growth, both in income and political importance. Their men climbed up the social ladder and by 1868, when the Edo feudalism collapsed, Aoyagi’s fief gad expanded to become the third largest among those managed by the vassals in the domain. Although many samurai experienced economic distress under the rule of the new Meiji government, Aoyagi was able to survive as a landlord. In 1902, Aoyagi Tomokichi became the mayor of Kakunodate.

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Ishiguro House

In contrast to the Aoyagi Samurai Manor, the Ishiguro House remains almost exactly as it looked when it was constructed 200 years ago by the Ishiguro samurai family. After the Meiji Restoration, the family became landlords and collected rice as rent. Today, English speaking, 12th-generation Ishiguro Naotsugi continues to live here and has opened five rooms to the public in the main house. Family heirlooms, including samurai gear, winter geta, scales for weighing rice, and old maps of Kakunodate are on display in a former warehouse. You can see everything in less than 30 minutes, though if Ishiguro-san is on hand to answer questions, you might stay longer.

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Samurai

Samurai were warriors who served either the daimyo, feudal lords, or the shogun overlord, and in return received either land or salary.

Unlike vassals in the European feudal system, each samurai held his fief from only one lord.

In their domains, the daimyo were in control of not only samurai but also other residents in lower classes, such as peasants, artisans, and merchants.

The shogun reigned over the daimyo, exercising absolute rule under the nominal leadership of the emperor. Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and his descendants ruled the country for over 260 years, from 1603 to 1867. Their reign is called the Edo period after the name of the city where they placed the shogunate, present day Tokyo. The feudal system came to an end when samurai from the southern domains carried out a coup d’etat in 1867 that led to the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Subsequently, Japan introduced constitutional monarchy with the emperor as head of state.

Gift shops allow visitors to take home pieces of memorabilia from the museums. Available at the shops are specialties of the town such as cherry bark artwork, rice wine and rice cookies, as well as antiques, including ceramics, porcelain, furniture, and clothing.

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Misawa ITT Office Location: Bldg. 626 Phone: 226-3555 Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Saturday: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Closed Sundays, holidays 35th