Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
193
A Note on Establishments with Japanese Signs
Many restaurants, hotels, and other establishments in Japan do not have signs
giving their names in Roman (English-language) letters. As an aid to the reader,
chapter 14 lists the Japanese symbols for all such places described in this guide.
Each set of characters representing an establishment name has a number, which
corresponds to the number that appears inside the box preceding the establish-
ment's name in the text. Thus, to find the Japanese symbols for, say,
The Former
Kusuo Yasuda Residence,
refer to no. 52 on p. 325.
F
The Former Kusuo Yasuda Residence
Traditional Japanese
wooden homes are becoming rare in Tokyo, and even rarer are homes open to the public.
That alone makes this residence worth a visit, but its history and unique architectural
details are what make it special. Built in 1919 for a prosperous businessman who liked
to entertain but who afterwards decided the house was too elegant in which to raise his
five children, the house was then acquired by Zenshiro Yasuda and his wife, Mineko, who
had lost their home in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. The Yasuda family continued
to occupy the house for the next 75 years, and—this is what I find most amazing—they
had so much respect for the architectural integrity of the structure that they changed
almost nothing. Although it looks rather small and modest from the street, the 598-sq.-m
(6,550-sq.-ft.) home is much more than first meets the eye, extending long behind the
front facade into a garden and with a grand second floor. The main
Genkan
(foyer),
reserved for important guests and the head of the household, is designed after the formal
entrance of a samurai residence, while an informal entrance to the right was used by the
immediate family, relatives, and friends. In addition to a Japanese-style drawing room
with a hearth for formal tea ceremonies, there's also a Western-style drawing room with
furniture original to the house, including a piano and Victorola. The bathroom contains
a rare floor-level sink in the dressing area, presumably for women kneeling to wash long
hair fashionable during the time, but my favorite room is probably the kitchen, state-of-
the-art when it was built, with skylights and a central island with a sink, gas stove, ice
box, and cellar for storage. In any case, because the house is staffed by volunteers (the
house belongs to the non-profit Japan National Trust), open hours are currently limited.
You'll probably spend at least a half-hour here.
5-20-18 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku.
&
03/3822-2699.
Admission ¥500 adults, ¥200 junior high through col-
lege students, free for children 11 and under. Wed and Sat 10:30am-4pm. Closed mid-Aug. Station:
Sendagi (Exit 1, 7 min.). Turn left out of the station, take an immediate left again, and then turn right at
the stoplight. It will be on the left.
Fukagawa Edo Museum (Fukagawa Edo Shiryokan)
This is the Tokyo
of your dreams, the way it appears in all those samurai flicks on Japanese TV: a reproduc-
tion of a 19th-century neighborhood in Fukagawa, a prosperous community on the east
bank of the Sumida River during the Edo Period. This delightful museum is located off
Kiyosumi Dori on a pleasant tree-lined, shop-filled street called Fukagawa Shiryokan
Dori. The museum's hangarlike interior contains 11 full-scale replicas of traditional
houses, vegetable and rice shops, a fish store, two inns, a fire watchtower, and tenement
homes, all arranged to resemble an actual neighborhood. There are lots of small touches
and flourishes to make the community seem real and believable—a cat sleeping on a roof,
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