Tuesday, November 29: Lunch at Ohana

Our boat ride ended at a famous historical site in Yanagawa, Ohana Villa.
From: http://www.ohana.co.jp/e/greet.html: This villa was built by the house of Tachibana in 1697. Tachibana means "wild orange." The western style 2 story wooden annex with its grand hall, is an example of traditional Meiji Era architecture which presently serves as a historical museum. By the grand hall is a beautiful Japanese garden called the "Shotoen". The Ohana estate and garden is an important cultural institution that beautifully evokes the refined lifestyle of the samurai class of Japan's Edo period (1603 - 1867), and that of the feudal lords that once governed Yanagawa. Ohana was formerly the home of Yanagawa's ruling Tachibana family. The estate still houses a splendid collection of antiques that have been passed down through successive generations of the Tachibana family, over a period of 400 years. In 1994, the Tono-no-kura building and Ohana folk museum were opened to the public. Some of the museum's collection may be seen below.Ohana Co., Ltd. has entered a new era, yet continues to charm visitors with its history and grandeur.Ohana's famous garden, Shotoen, is a nationally designated site of natural beauty. The estate's Western-style Seiyokan Annex was built during the Meiji era (1868 - 1911).

Located in picturesque Yanagawa, always an enjoyable place to visit, Ohana has a different mood each season and is loved by visitors from around the country. Ohana offers a wide range of services, from the delightful accommodations of Shotokan Inn, to large and small banquet rooms and a restaurant popular for wedding ceremonies and receptions. Wedding services available at Ohana range from solemn Shinto ceremonies, to Christian-style ceremonies held in the Seiyokan Annex. Each are bound to leave you with special memories for a lifetime.

Yanagawa and the Tashibana Family:
The grand forefather of Yanagawa's feudal lords is Muneshige Tachibana, the 2nd Tachibana descendant. During the Sengoku period (1470 - 1568) Kyushu fell under the control of Hideyoshi Toyotomi. When Muneshige fought on Hideyoshi's side and led Otomo Bungo's advance guard to win a clinching battle, he was rewarded with Yanagawa to establish his domain and castle in. The surrounding Chikugo area was a producer of average but not huge quantities of rice, about 130,000 goku or bushels annually. But Muneshige's alliance to Hideyoshi later lost him this domain when Hideyoshi's western army suffered a massive defeat in the famous battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Yoshimasa Tanaka became lord of Yanagawa in Muneshige's place, and immediately began construction on Yanagawa castle, its surrounding township and the many canals inherent to Yanagawa today. Then, more than 20 years later, Muneshige Tachibana became lord of the castle again. For 13 successive generations, up until the Meiji Imperial Restoration of 1868, Yanagawa flourished as the town surrounding Yanagawa castle.

About the name Ohana:
In 1697 Akitora Tachibana, the 4th descendant of the Tachibana family, ordered construction on a site measuring about 23,000m2 surrounded on all four sides by canals, and built the Shukeitei villa and grounds there. But the area had always been known as "Hanabatake", or "flower field". This name was subsequently abbreviated by locals to "Ohana" or "flower", and the property has been so named ever since. Between 1910 and 1911, Tomoharu Tachibana, the family's 14th direct descendant, made extensive new constructions on the estate and gardens. He built the Western-style Seiyokan Annex, Ohiroma grand hall and Enyukaijo banquet hall, which are all exemplary architectural works of that period. The garden, inspired by the landscape of Matsushima that Tomoharu had seen in Sendai, was subsequently named Shotoen and was designated as a national site of beauty in 1978.

We only had time to eat lunch at the Shukeitei Japanese Restaurant. Then we boarded the bus, but we were told we would spend a night here before our return to Tokyo. The gardens were beautiful and the food arranged for us was delicious, but very western looking. I am not sure why I did not take a picture of the meal. I will ask the other members of my group to send me a picture. I practiced my introductions in Japanese with some of the people eating at the restaurant. They understood me! Their food was different than what we were being served. The people were welcoming and friendly. Since most of the people were my age, or older, I started to question what were their thoughts when they looked at us. I had not seen a single western looking face the whole day long! They were so quiet and polite and we were so loud!