The Banquet Wing That Marks the Hillside
The Juenro of Asakichi Ryokan (麻吉旅館聚遠楼, Asakichi Ryokan Juenro, also written Jūenrō) is a late Edo-period timber banquet wing in Nakanocho, Ise City, Mie Prefecture, dated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs to between 1830 and 1867 and entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 9 February 2005.
It occupies the ground west of the inn's Main Building, on the Furuichi hillside east of the old pilgrimage road that runs between the Outer and Inner Shrines of Ise Jingu. The Agency's own description ends by calling it the landmark of the whole property, and from the lane below that is exactly how it reads: the tallest and widest mass in a group of buildings that otherwise step back out of sight.
Two ranges stand side by side, both running north to south, both hipped and tiled with sangawara pantiles. The larger is three storeys, roughly seven and a half ken along its length by four and a half deep, something near 13.5 by 8 metres. Beside it runs a two-storey range of the same length and about three ken deep. The registered building area comes to 195 square metres.
On the top floor, three eight-mat rooms line the western side. In the northeast corner sits the room that gives the wing its name, a space of about twenty-one mats, close to 34 square metres of unbroken tatami.
What the Name Says, and Why the Building Was Registered
The three characters of Juenro can be read as gathering, distance, and upper hall. A room raised three storeys above a hillside, facing away from the slope, collects a view that no ground-floor room can reach. No document confirms that the house meant the name in that sense, though the arrangement of the building supports the reading.
Registration came under the criterion "contributes to the historic landscape of the nation," in the 45th round, with registration number 24-0054. The gazette notice followed on 28 February 2005. Note the address: the Juenro is listed at 111 Nakanocho, while the Main Building and the Storehouse are at 109-3, since the wing sits on a separate parcel to the west.
Furuichi once ranked among Japan's five great licensed quarters, with Yoshiwara in Edo, Shimabara in Kyoto, Shinmachi in Osaka and Maruyama in Nagasaki. Pilgrims came here after finishing at the shrines, for the custom called shojin-otoshi, the setting aside of ritual abstinence. Asakichi served that trade as a restaurant rather than a brothel, and a large upper room for banquets was the heart of such a business.
Wartime air raids and postwar rebuilding removed nearly all of Furuichi. Five buildings at Asakichi now hold registrations: the Main Building, the Storehouse, this Juenro, the Meigetsu and Sekko rooms, and the Front Storehouse. Ise City's listing attributes much of the surviving fabric to a rebuilding in Tenpo 10 (1839), citing volume 7 of the city history, a date consistent with the national database.
What to Look For
Start with the pairing of the two ranges. Placing a three-storey block and a two-storey block side by side, parallel and equal in length, is not how a single large hall would be built. It is how a house adds capacity to a site that cannot be widened further downhill. The stepped profile that results is the reason the Juenro reads as a landmark rather than a wall.
Then consider the plan of the top floor. Three eight-mat rooms in a row can be opened into one another or kept separate, which is the standard flexibility of a Japanese banquet floor. The twenty-one mat room in the northeast corner is something else: a single space large enough for a full gathering, placed at the corner where two outlooks meet.
From outside, watch how the hipped roofs of the two ranges sit against the more broken roofscape of the Main Building further east. The Agency singles out the Main Building for its complicated roof geometry; the Juenro answers with long, calm ridges. The contrast is visible from the foot of the stone lane and is worth pausing for.
The house name is older than any of the present buildings. It is said to derive from the merchant house of Asaya Kichibei, and a Furuichi town map dated 1782 already records Asakichi. The comic novel Tokaidochu Hizakurige also mentions the name, in a scene where its travellers head up to the quarter.
Access, Staying and Photography
The Juenro forms part of a working inn on private ground. There is no admission desk and no published opening time, and its rooms are not shown to callers as museum spaces. Guests of the ryokan are the people who see the interior, and even then the room used depends on the booking. Anyone with a particular interest in the large upper room should raise it when reserving rather than on arrival.
Asakichi Ryokan offers six guest rooms across the property, four with bath and toilet and two with toilet, all with heating and air conditioning. Two bathing rooms run on heated water rather than a hot spring, available between 17:00 and 22:00. Check-in is from 16:00 to 21:00, the doors are locked at 22:00, and check-out is at 10:00. Cash or credit card are accepted, the building is entirely non-smoking indoors with a smoking spot at the entrance, and Wi-Fi reaches part of the property. Stairs are constant, and guests who prefer fewer of them should say so at the time of booking.
For access, buses leave Iseshi Station and Ujiyamada Station for Urata-cho or Naiku-mae by way of the Furuichi Kaido and stop at Nakanocho, a minute on foot, though services are sparse enough that checking the timetable first is sensible. Kintetsu Isuzugawa Station is roughly 15 minutes away on foot, a taxi from either main station takes about 10 minutes, and drivers leaving the Ise-Nishi interchange have 1.2 kilometres to go, with free parking beside the inn for guests. Mapping applications work best when set to Asaka Tsuzura Inari Shrine, the small shrine adjoining the site.
Photographing the exterior from the public lane is unrestricted, and the view up toward the Juenro is the shot most visitors come for. Indoors, ask first.
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Q&A
- What is the Juenro of Asakichi Ryokan?
- It is a late Edo-period timber banquet wing at 111 Nakanocho, Ise City, Mie Prefecture, registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2005. Two parallel ranges, one of three storeys and one of two, stand west of the inn's Main Building, and the top floor holds three eight-mat rooms plus a room of about twenty-one mats that gives the wing its name.
- Can I see inside the Juenro of Asakichi Ryokan?
- The wing belongs to an operating ryokan and is not open as a museum. Staying overnight is the way to see the interior, and which rooms are used depends on the reservation. If the large upper room is your reason for coming, mention it when you book. The exterior is visible from the public lane at any time.
- When was the Juenro of Asakichi Ryokan registered as a cultural property?
- It was registered on 9 February 2005 and gazetted on 28 February 2005, in the 45th round of national registrations, under number 24-0054. The criterion applied was that the building contributes to the historic landscape of the nation.
- Why is the Juenro of Asakichi Ryokan called the landmark of the inn?
- It is the largest and most prominent mass on the site, two parallel ranges of three and two storeys covering 195 square metres of building area, set on the western parcel where the hillside falls away. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it in exactly those terms, and from the stone lane below it is the part of the complex that stands out first.
- How do I get to the Juenro of Asakichi Ryokan?
- Buses from Iseshi Station or Ujiyamada Station bound for Urata-cho or Naiku-mae via the Furuichi Kaido stop at Nakanocho, one minute on foot, but they run infrequently so check the timetable. Kintetsu Isuzugawa Station is about a 15-minute walk, a taxi from the main stations takes around 10 minutes, and by car it is 1.2 kilometres from the Ise-Nishi interchange with parking next to the inn.
Basic Information
| Name | Juenro of Asakichi Ryokan (麻吉旅館聚遠楼, Asakichi Ryokan Juenro) |
|---|---|
| Location | 111 Nakanocho, Ise City, Mie Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 24-0054 |
| Year Designated | Registered 9 February 2005; gazetted 28 February 2005 (45th round) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, three storeys with a partly two-storey section, tiled roof; building area 195 square metres |
| Owner | Asakichi Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Part of an operating ryokan; interior seen by staying guests. Exterior visible from the public lane. |
References
- National Database of Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Asakichi Ryokan Juenro
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004586
- Cultural Heritage Online: Asakichi Ryokan Juenro
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/180806
- Ise City Official Website: Asakichi Ryokan Honkan (Asakichi Ryokan cultural properties)
- https://www.city.ise.mie.jp/cul_spo_edu/culture/bunkazai_shiseki/bunkazai/yukei/1005926.html
- Asakichi Ryokan Official Site
- https://sites.google.com/view/asakichiryokan/
- Ise City Tourism Association: Cultural Properties of Ise
- https://ise-kanko.jp/focus/culturalproperty/
Last verified: 2026.07.31