Oyamazaki Villa Rokando Tunnel

A Decorative Brick Tunnel

The Oyamazaki Villa Rokando Tunnel (大山崎山荘琅玕洞（トンネル）) is a tunnel cut through rock as the approach to the villa of the early Showa period in Oyamazaki, Oyamazaki Town, Otokuni District, Kyoto Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on July 23, 2004 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a brick tunnel 5.6 metres long and 3.6 metres wide; registration number 26-0181.

Dark Bricks in the Lining

Oyamazaki Villa, on the slopes of Mount Tenno in Oyamazaki, Kyoto Prefecture, was the country house of the Kansai businessman Kaga Shotaro (1888-1954); 6 structures built from the Taisho to the early Showa period, among them the main house, a tea room, a teahouse, a garage, a lookout tower and a tunnel, are registered (Agency for Cultural Affairs; museum).

The Rokando tunnel, of the early Showa period, was made at the south-east corner of the site as the approach to the villa (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It is 5.6 metres long and 3.6 metres wide, cut through rock and lined in brick as a flat arch, with a portal of cut stone on the front side.

Though small, it is decoratively made, with dark fired bricks woven into the brick lining (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered it as a model of design.

What to Look For

At the Rokando tunnel, look for the cut-stone portal and the dark fired bricks woven into the lining (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The main building, the Saigetsuan tea room and the Tochinoki teahouse are owned by Asahi Group Japan, Ltd., and the former garage, the Seikaro tower and the Rokando tunnel by Kyoto Prefecture (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to the Asahi Group Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art, it opens from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (last entry 4:30 p.m.) and is closed on Mondays (Tuesday if Monday is a holiday), on occasional days and over the New Year; it is about 10 minutes on foot from JR Yamazaki and Hankyu Oyamazaki stations. The 6 structures are introduced together on the Oyamazaki Villa page.