Masuya Ryokan

Masuya Ryokan: Six Registered Buildings in Tazawa Onsen

Masuya Ryokan (ますや旅館) is a working hot-spring inn in Tazawa Onsen, Aoki Village, Nagano Prefecture, whose four three-storey timber buildings and two earthen storehouses, built between the early Meiji and late Taisho periods, were registered together as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 12 July 2005.

The six are the Main Building of around 1907, the East Wing (the oldest structure on the site), the New Wing of the early Taisho period, the West Wing of the late Taisho period, and two early Meiji storehouses. In the Agency for Cultural Affairs database they carry consecutive registration numbers, 20-0188 to 20-0193, and all six were registered for the same reason: they contribute to the historic landscape of the country. Taken one by one they differ in size and purpose. The case for registration rests on what they do together, which is to give the middle of a small spa town its shape.

The inn's own website says Masuya Ryokan grew out of a village headman's household (shōya) dating back before the Edo period, and describes the registered buildings as presumed Meiji-era work. The national database, however, dates the New Wing and the West Wing to the Taisho period. This page follows the database for the age of each building.

Tazawa Onsen is a compact spa village; Aoki Village traces the opening of its springs to the late Asuka period and notes their long reputation as waters for couples hoping for children. The tall wooden blocks of Masuya Ryokan stand at the centre of it.

How the Six Buildings Fit Together

Read side by side, the Agency's descriptions give a clear plan of Masuya Ryokan. The Main Building sits back from the street. The Storehouse is attached to the south of its entrance, and the West Wing joins it on the south-west, occupying a corner plot with streets on its south and west sides. The East Wing stands to the south-east of the Main Building; the New Wing stands a little apart to the north-east and is linked to it by a covered corridor with its own stair hall. Only the East Storehouse lies across the street, south of the East Wing.

Walking up the lane, the white walls of the East Wing and the Storehouse face the East Storehouse on the opposite side, so that inn buildings line both edges of the spa town's main street. The Agency credits the East Storehouse, the East Wing and the Storehouse with setting the historic character of that street.

From the east, the Main Building, the East Wing and the New Wing stack up as three layers of three-storey roofs; the Agency singles out this eastern face as the most conspicuous side of Masuya Ryokan. According to the inn, the village bathhouse Uchiyu (有乳湯) lies just beyond it.

Shimazaki Tōson and the Masuya

Much of Masuya Ryokan's fame comes from the novelist and poet Shimazaki Tōson (島崎藤村). While he was a young teacher in nearby Komoro, Tōson wrote about Tazawa's hot springs in his prose collection Chikumagawa no Suketchi (Chikuma River Sketches), describing the Masuya as an inn with a fine outlook and recalling a night on its upper floor listening to the stream below. Aoki Village still cites this passage when it introduces Tazawa Onsen.

The inn keeps the room Tōson stayed in on the third floor of the East Wing, now called the Tōson Room (藤村の間), with its wooden fittings and furnishings largely unchanged. Its windows look out over the mountains toward Yunomaru Plateau and Mount Asama. The room is still let to guests and can be booked.

Visiting Masuya Ryokan

Masuya Ryokan is an operating inn, and only overnight guests can go inside. The inn's FAQ states plainly that it does not accept day-bathing visitors. Check-in starts at 3:00 p.m. and check-out is by 10:00 a.m. Staying the night is effectively the only way to walk through the registered buildings and see details such as the carved transoms and latticed shōji up close.

The exteriors can be seen from the public lane through the spa town. Guests come and go all day, so please stay on the street rather than stepping into the entrance or grounds. The official site gives no rules on photography inside the buildings or on the property; ask the inn when you stay.

By rail, the nearest station is Ueda, served by the Hokuriku Shinkansen, the Shinano Railway and the Ueda Electric Railway; the inn is about 30 minutes away by car or taxi. By bus, take the Chikuma Bus Aoki Line to its terminus, Aoki Bus Terminal, and change to the village-run Furusato bus for the Tazawa Onsen stop. The Furusato bus runs on weekdays only, not on weekends, holidays or over the New Year period. The inn also offers a pick-up service for guests if booked in advance.

By car, allow about 20 minutes from the Omi interchange on the Nagano Expressway, or about 30 minutes from the Ueda-Sugadaira interchange on the Joshin-etsu Expressway. The inn's car park holds 50 cars and is free for guests. Car navigation systems do not always find the address correctly, so the inn suggests searching by its telephone number instead.