A Late Edo Inn Built Into the Furuichi Slope
The Main Building of Asakichi Ryokan (麻吉旅館本館, Asakichi Ryokan Honkan) is a late Edo-period wooden inn building 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 stands on a hillside just east of the old pilgrimage road that once carried travellers between the Outer Shrine (Geku) and the Inner Shrine (Naiku) of Ise Jingu. The district is called Furuichi, and for most of the Edo period it was where pilgrims went after finishing at the shrines.
Japanese pilgrimage came with rules about abstinence, and Furuichi was where those rules were set down again. The custom had a name, shojin-otoshi, roughly "putting off the fast." Sake, food, dancing and the pleasure quarter all belonged to it.
Asakichi was a restaurant rather than a brothel, and it fed and entertained the crowds that came up the hill. Guests began sleeping there, and the business became an inn. It still is one.
The registered structure is a three-storey timber building, partly two storeys, with a hipped roof of sangawara pantiles and a floor area of 273 square metres. The lane climbs so steeply past it that the main entrance opens on the third floor. Kitchen and the proprietors' living quarters occupy the second, guest rooms the first and third.
Why the Main Building Carries a National Registration
Japan's register of Tangible Cultural Properties, created in 1996, sits below the older tiers of National Treasure and Important Cultural Property. It was designed for buildings in daily use, where preservation cannot mean freezing the fabric. Asakichi is a working ryokan, and registration lets it stay one.
The Main Building was registered under the criterion "contributes to the historic landscape of the nation," in the 45th round of registrations. Its registration number is 24-0052. The Ministry gazette followed on 28 February 2005.
Furuichi was once counted among the five great licensed quarters of Japan, alongside Yoshiwara in Edo, Shimabara in Kyoto, Shinmachi in Osaka and Maruyama in Nagasaki. Wartime air raids and postwar rebuilding removed nearly all of it. Ordinary houses now line the streets where the teahouses stood, and Asakichi is what remains.
Five buildings on the property hold registrations: the Main Building, the Storehouse, the Juenro, the Meigetsu and Sekko rooms, and the Front Storehouse. Taken together they preserve the whole working layout of an Edo-period pleasure-district restaurant, not one showpiece façade.
Ise City's cultural property listing records that much of the surviving fabric dates from a rebuilding in Tenpo 10 (1839), citing volume 7 of the city history. That year falls inside the 1830 to 1867 range given in the national database, so the two accounts agree.
What to Look For on the Lane
Approach from below. The stone-stepped lane runs between the buildings, and from its foot the complex reads as a stack of tiled roofs climbing one behind another, linked by a covered bridge overhead.
Guidebooks and the city's own description call this kakezukuri, the bracket-supported construction used where a building meets a slope too steep to level. Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto is the example everyone knows. Asakichi applies the same logic to a commercial building, which is far rarer.
Counting from the bottom of the lane, visitors and the city's listing describe five levels; some travel writing says six. The national database registers each individual building at three storeys, partly two. Both statements can be true, because the levels belong to different structures set at different heights on the hillside rather than to one continuous frame.
Look at the roof. The Agency's description singles out the irregular plan, shaped to the contours, and the complicated roof geometry that follows from it. Ridges meet at angles that no flat site would produce.
The name is worth a moment too. It appears to come from Asaya Kichibei, a merchant house name, and the family may once have dealt in hemp cloth for the shrines. A town map of Furuichi from 1782 already shows "Asakichi," which is the oldest record the innkeepers can point to. The comic travel novel Tokaidochu Hizakurige mentions the name as well, and its two heroes propose a visit.
Staying, Access and Photography
The Main Building is private property and a functioning inn. There is no ticket office and no set opening hour for sightseers. Guests see the interior; everyone else sees the exterior and the lane, both of which are the point.
The ryokan has six guest rooms in total across the property, four with bath and toilet and two with toilet only, all with heating and air conditioning. Two bathing rooms are heated between 17:00 and 22:00, using ordinary hot water rather than a hot spring. Check-in runs from 16:00 to 21:00, the doors are locked at 22:00, and check-out is 10:00. Payment is by cash or credit card. Smoking is not permitted indoors, though there is a smoking spot by the entrance, and Wi-Fi reaches some rooms.
Stairs and changes of level are everywhere, which is the direct result of the site. Anyone with heavy luggage or difficulty on steps should say so when booking, and the inn will assign a room reached with fewer stairs.
By bus, take a Mie Kotsu service bound for Urata-cho or Naiku-mae via the Furuichi Kaido from Iseshi Station or Ujiyamada Station, and get off at Nakanocho, one minute on foot. Services are infrequent, so check the timetable before setting out. From Kintetsu Isuzugawa Station it is a walk of about 15 minutes. A taxi from either main station takes roughly 10 minutes. Drivers come 1.2 kilometres from the Ise-Nishi interchange, and parking beside the inn is free for guests.
One quirk of navigation: mapping apps route most reliably to Asaka Tsuzura Inari Shrine, the small shrine adjoining the property. Keep that destination and you will arrive.
Photographing the exterior from the public lane is unrestricted. Inside, ask first, and remember that other guests are staying.
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Q&A
- Where is the Main Building of Asakichi Ryokan, and how do I reach it?
- It stands at 109-3 Nakanocho, Ise City, Mie Prefecture, in the old Furuichi district between the Outer and Inner Shrines of Ise Jingu. Buses from Iseshi or Ujiyamada Station bound for Urata-cho or Naiku-mae via the Furuichi Kaido stop at Nakanocho, one minute away, though they run infrequently. Kintetsu Isuzugawa Station is about a 15-minute walk, and a taxi from the main stations takes around 10 minutes.
- Can I stay overnight in the Main Building of Asakichi Ryokan?
- Yes. Asakichi Ryokan continues to operate as an inn, with six guest rooms across the property and meals served. Check-in is between 16:00 and 21:00 and check-out at 10:00, with payment by cash or card. Booking is through the ryokan's own site or by telephone.
- What cultural property status does the Main Building of Asakichi Ryokan hold?
- It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, registration number 24-0052, entered on 9 February 2005 and gazetted on 28 February the same year. The category sits below Important Cultural Property and National Treasure, and it is intended for buildings that remain in everyday use.
- Why does the Main Building of Asakichi Ryokan have its entrance on the third floor?
- The building sits on a steep hillside, and the stone lane beside it climbs past the upper storeys. Placing the main entrance at third-floor level puts it level with the lane. Kitchen and living quarters sit below on the second floor, with guest rooms on the first and third.
- Can I photograph the Main Building of Asakichi Ryokan without staying there?
- The exterior and the stepped lane can be photographed freely from public ground, and the lane view is the classic one. The interior is private, so ask the staff before photographing indoors and take care not to disturb guests.
Basic Information
| Name | Main Building of Asakichi Ryokan (麻吉旅館本館, Asakichi Ryokan Honkan) |
|---|---|
| Location | 109-3 Nakanocho, Ise City, Mie Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 24-0052 |
| 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 273 square metres |
| Owner | Asakichi Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Operating ryokan; interior open to staying guests only. Exterior visible from the public lane. |
References
- National Database of Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Asakichi Ryokan Honkan
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004584
- Cultural Heritage Online: Asakichi Ryokan Honkan
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/117464
- Ise City Official Website: Asakichi Ryokan Honkan
- 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