Aki — Doi-Kakuchū, the samurai district

photo by Isoyan · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by 京浜にけ · CC BY-SA 3.0

Oak and bamboo hedges reserved for samurai: the founder of Mitsubishi was born here.

A former residential district for the samurai of the Tosa domain, recognised as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings (Japanese ‘samurai district’) on 9 July 2012, and already included in November 2007 in the list of Japan's scenic roads. Along the lanes run living hedges of ubamegashi oak and dōyōdake bamboo, once reserved by law for the domain's samurai families alone. The district includes the birthplace of Iwasaki Yatarō, founder of Mitsubishi, with a garden of stones arranged to represent the Japanese archipelago; Jōteiji, the family temple of the Aki clan; and the Aki municipal calligraphy museum, the first public calligraphy museum in Japan, opened in October 1982.

A residential district that is still inhabited, along national Route 55 and prefectural road 213, in the city of Aki.

ℹ️ Public streets always accessible. The individual sites (Iwasaki house, calligraphy museum) have their own opening hours, to be checked with each facility.

🚉 Aki · 20 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org · city.aki.kochi.jp

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