Sawayaka Walking in Arai (2) - Kinokuniya Museum

On Tokaido Highway, there were 53 post towns with inns for travelers. Arai was one of them and had 25 inns during the Edo Period. The largest one was Kinokuniya that has become a museum now. Kinokuni means present Wakayama Prefecture. The founder of the inn was from there, and the inn was patronized by the feudal lord of Kishu (Kinokuni). The building was rebuilt after a great fire in 1874 but the architectural style for an inn of later Edo Period remained. Kinokuniya was run as an inn until 1959.

Kinokuniya was just a few minutes walk from the check point. I entered inside by showing the combination ticket bought in the check point. Near the entrance, there was Fukusuke, a lucky charm that is supposed to bring good fortune. This doll has been especially popular among merchants, and you can still see it displayed in some shops.

The inn consists of mostly tatami rooms. This is hibachi, a heating appliance to warm up the room or cook something with charcoal.

These are a portable candlestick, tobacco tray, and sake bottles.

To my surprise, this inn served grilled eel to travelers. It is a specialty of Hamamatsu but a kind of luxury food even now. Kinokuniya must have been really a high-class inn. I wondered what ordinary travelers with less money ate at their inns.

This is a bathtub.

Near the kitchen, there was a big cupboard with pots and bottles in front of it.

This is an earthen floor used as a kitchen. The floor is made from soil, lime, and bittern, not of concrete.

Then, I went upstairs. The ceiling was very low. If you are more than 175cm tall, you have to be careful.

The box on the left is a peddler’s carrying box. It was used to keep goods and carry on the back.

Kinokuniya has also a garden.

These are pillows. To my mind, they are too narrow, but people in old days used to sleep with such pillows.

The stairs were steep! But it is usual with old buildings.

Kinokuniya is well preserved. You can learn a lot about a Japanese inn from the Edo Period by looking at real things (unfortunately, description was given only in Japanese). Like Arai, Hamamatsu was also a post town of Tokaido Highway. It was one of the largest, with 94 ordinary inns and 6 inns for feudal lords. But the town was burnt down during the World War II, and there is nothing left of the post town it once was. It’s a pity that we have no museum like Kinokuniya in the downtown of Hamamatsu.