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Takehara Preservation District

Takeharapreservation districtsaltsakeFumeikaku

Hiroshima · Takehara

34.3469°N, 132.9099°E

Takehara made its money from salt and sake. The Seto Inland Sea coast here was laid out as evaporation flats in the seventeenth century, the merchants who ran them built themselves substantial houses, and because the industry declined without the town being redeveloped, the houses are still standing. It is a national preservation district and is called the little Kyoto of Aki.

What distinguishes it from other preserved streets is the detail: individually designed window lattices, no two the same down the length of a block, and doorways set with different stone. Above the street stands Fumeikaku, a stage-built hall of 1758 modelled on Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, reached by steps and free to enter, with a view over every tiled roof in the quarter. Takehara is also where Nihonshu's Taketsuru Masataka was born.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Streets open at all times | Saihoji and Fumeikaku roughly 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Closed: Streets open year-round | Individual house museums have their own rest days

Entrance Fee

Free streets | Fumeikaku free | House museums charged individually

Best Season

Year-round

Visit Duration

2 hours

Getting There

Access Information

Honmachi, Takehara, about 15 minutes on foot from JR Takehara Station on the Kure Line. The streets are free to walk and form a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. Saihoji and its Fumeikaku hall are free to visit, open roughly 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM, about 15 minutes on foot from the station. The Matsusaka residence, the Osasaya sake museum, the Shumpukan and Fukkokan houses and the local history museum charge individually.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Climb to Fumeikaku.** The 1758 stage-built hall above the street is modelled on Kiyomizu-dera, free, and looks over the entire roofscape. Most visitors photograph the street and never go up the steps. **Look at the window lattices.** Each house has a different pattern and they were designed individually. Once you notice it the street stops being a backdrop. **Salt, then sake.** The evaporation flats built the town and the sake industry followed. The Osasaya museum in a working brewery is where that connects. **Taketsuru Masataka was born here.** The man who brought whisky distilling to Japan came from a Takehara sake family, and his birthplace is on the street. **Combine with Okunoshima.** Tadanoumi, the port for the rabbit island, is about twelve minutes up the line from Takehara Station.

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