Moricho Ryokan

Moricho Ryokan

Moricho Ryokan (森長旅館, Morichō Ryokan) is a historic inn by Oga Station in Funakawaminato, Oga City, Akita Prefecture, whose Main Building of 1934, Annex and Storehouse were all registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on February 9, 2005 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The three carry consecutive registration numbers, 05-0113 to 05-0115, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country, and are owned by Chuo Kenso Co., Ltd.

The Agency describes the Main Building as a reminder of how busy Funakawa Port once was. The site is a small study in contrasts: a Western-style main building under a mansard roof on a street corner, a Japanese-style annex of 1949 and a white-plastered storehouse from the early Showa period, all within one compact plot.

A Port-Town Inn

Funakawa sits on the south shore of the Oga Peninsula. The inn's own history page describes it as a harbor used since the days of the Kitamaebune coastal traders, both for shipping cargo and as a place for vessels to wait out the wind. Moricho Ryokan, by its account, opened in the Meiji era, lodged the traders and fishermen who filled the town, and closed its doors in 2006.

The buildings then stood largely empty until a renovation brought them back into use in 2024 as Kura Sauna to Bunkazai no Yado Moricho, roughly "Moricho, the inn with a storehouse sauna in a registered building" (official website). The room layouts were kept, and the chairs, low tables and chests that had always furnished the inn were cleaned up and returned to the rooms.

How the Three Buildings Sit

The Main Building fills the street corner, with its entrance on the north side. The Annex stands to its southeast, linked to a service wing of the Main Building by a second-floor bridge corridor. The Storehouse occupies the northeast corner of the plot across the garden, and shows plaster relief work around the windows that face the street (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The garden between them is a stone garden by the artist Hiroshi Fuji, who sorted the stones already on site and set them out afresh; the inn calls it the Growing Garden (official website). From the ground-floor lounge and the upstairs corridor of the Main Building, you look across it to the Storehouse and the Annex.

Each building is covered in detail on its own page.

Staying and Visiting

Moricho Ryokan still operates as an inn, so the way inside is to stay the night or book the day-use sauna. Accommodation consists of nine private rooms and a dormitory in the Main Building plus one suite in the Annex; check-in is at 3:00 p.m. and check-out at 10:00 a.m. (official website). There is no communal bath and no elevator, and the only meal served is a breakfast booked in advance; for dinner, staff point guests to restaurants in town.

Non-guests can use the saunas in the Storehouse and the Main Building on a day-use basis for 3,500 yen (up to 2 hours 30 minutes, towels and a sauna hat included). Capacity is limited, so there may be a wait at busy times (official website, checked October 2026). No official arrangement for viewing the buildings alone was found, but the exteriors can be seen from the street.

The inn is about 1 minute on foot from Oga Station, the terminus of the JR Oga Line (official website); the address is 82 Sakaemachi, Funakawa, Funakawaminato, and contact details are on the inn's website. No official guidance on photography was found, so ask staff before taking pictures indoors.