Former Okanoya Ryokan Guest Room Building

The Former Okanoya Ryokan Guest Room Building: An Elegant Meiji-Era Inn on the Asahi Riverbank

In the heart of Katsuyama, a beautifully preserved post town in northern Okayama Prefecture, stands a graceful two-story wooden building that has gazed over the Asahi River for more than a century. The Former Okanoya Ryokan Guest Room Building (Kyu-Okanoya Ryokan Kyakushitsuto) is one of the most distinctive surviving examples of late Meiji-era inn architecture in the Mimasaka region. Perched at the foot of the Kamibashi Bridge on the eastern bank of the river, its glass-paneled facade and long line of riverside rooms have become an inseparable part of the cherished riverbank townscape that draws visitors to this historic castle town.

Designated as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2014, the building belongs to a constellation of nine heritage structures owned by Tsuji Honten, the venerable sake brewery that has shaped Katsuyama's character since the early nineteenth century. Together with the brewery's main residence, storehouses, gate, and walls, the former inn forms an architectural ensemble that tells the story of how prosperity, hospitality, and craftsmanship flourished along the upper reaches of the Asahi River.

A Brief History of the Building and Its Setting

The Former Okanoya Ryokan Guest Room Building was constructed during the late Meiji period, sometime between 1898 and 1912, when Katsuyama was enjoying the final flowering of its long career as a transportation hub. The town had grown wealthy as a post town on the old Izumo Highway, the inland route linking the Sanin and Sanyo regions, and as the uppermost landing for the takasebune flat-bottomed river boats that plied the Asahi River. From this point goods such as salt, dried seafood, and everyday wares were transferred to overland routes, while local produce, timber, and tatami materials traveled downriver to Okayama.

Katsuyama was also a castle town. From 1764, when the Miura family of the Mimasaka-Katsuyama domain established their seat here with a stipend of 23,000 koku, the streets near the river filled with merchant houses, sake breweries, and inns serving samurai retainers, traveling officials, and merchants. The Okanoya was one such inn, built to welcome guests arriving by river or road and offering them a generous view of the water from their futon-lined rooms.

By the early twentieth century, however, the arrival of the railway began to draw traffic away from the rivers and post roads. Many of Katsuyama's inns gradually closed or were converted to other uses. The Okanoya guest room building eventually came into the keeping of Tsuji Honten, the local sake brewery whose properties dominate this stretch of the riverbank, and it has been carefully maintained ever since as part of the town's living architectural heritage.

Why This Building Was Designated a Cultural Property

The Former Okanoya Ryokan Guest Room Building was added to Japan's register of Tangible Cultural Properties on April 25, 2014, under the category of structures contributing to the national landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs cited the building's value as a fine example of riverside inn architecture from the Meiji period, noting in particular how its design enhances the scenic quality of the Asahi River embankment.

Several features earned it this recognition. The building is a two-story wooden structure with an irimoya-zukuri, or hip-and-gable, roof finished in sangawara-buki pan tiles, a roof form that combines visual dignity with practical resistance to the heavy snows of the mountainous Mimasaka region. The first floor contains six guest rooms, while the second floor is laid out as five rooms that can be opened together to form a great hall of fifty tatami mats, a flexible arrangement designed for both intimate stays and large gatherings.

Most striking is the building's relationship to the river. The first-floor veranda on the western, river-facing side cantilevers out beyond the stone embankment, projecting the building over the water as though it were floating above the current. Both floors are fronted with continuous glass shoji screens, a relatively modern touch for the period that allowed guests to enjoy the river view in any season. This combination of traditional joinery and turn-of-the-century glasswork is what gives the building its quietly memorable presence.

Highlights and Points of Appreciation

Visitor Information

The Former Okanoya Ryokan Guest Room Building is privately owned and is not currently operated as an inn or opened to the public for interior tours. Visitors are warmly invited to admire the building from the outside, with the best views to be had from the Kamibashi Bridge and from the riverside walking path along the eastern bank of the Asahi River. The exterior view is rewarding in every season and is fully part of the public experience of the Katsuyama Townscape Preservation District.

The Katsuyama Townscape Preservation District itself, designated in 1985 as the first such district in Okayama Prefecture, is open at all hours for free strolling. Most shops and cafes operate between approximately 10:00 and 17:00, with many closing on Wednesdays or other set days. Visitors are encouraged to begin at the Chugoku Katsuyama Station of the JR Kishin Line, from which the district is reached in a few minutes on foot.

Nearby Attractions

Within a short walk of the Former Okanoya Ryokan are several of Katsuyama's most rewarding sights. Gozenshu Tsuji Honten itself welcomes visitors at its direct sales shop SUMIYA and its adjoining cafe and restaurant, where seasonal sake tastings and dishes made with sake lees are offered. The Katsuyama Bunka Orai-kan Hishio, a culture house created from a renovated Meiji-period soy sauce warehouse, hosts exhibitions and a hilltop cafe with a fine view over the town.

A short climb leads to the Katsuyama Samurai Residence (Buke Yashiki Kan), the preserved home of the senior retainer Watanabe family, with its long-house gate, storehouses, and exhibits of armor and old documents. The Katsuyama Local Museum, set in the heart of the preservation district, displays records of the Miura clan and of the river-boat trade. The remains of the takasebune landings, marked by stone pavements and steps descending to the river, can be traced for about seven hundred meters along the eastern bank. Further afield, the Hiruzen highlands and the Yubara hot springs offer day-trip destinations within the wider Maniwa City area.