Uwajima and Ozu offer tourist attractions such as Fukushima, Takayama, and Aoshima; sightseeing events such as Pokopen Yokocho, the Azalea Festival, and the Gion Festival; and local delicacies such as tarts, sea bream rice, and Ponjuyu.
Uchiko has flourished as a center of Japanese paper and candle production since the Edo period. The Uchiko-za Kabuki Theater, built in the early Taisho period (1912-1926), still has the same hanamichi (flower aisle) and mawari-butai (rotating stage) as it did in those days, and performances are still held there today.
Yokaichi and Gokoku, with its rows of old private homes and merchant houses, are designated as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. The white plaster and tiled roofs of the streets will take you back in time.
For a more geeky experience, we recommend the Machiya Museum, which recreates the lifestyle of the Edo period down to the smallest detail, or the Museum of Commerce and Lifestyle, where life-size dolls reproduce the life of a merchant family. Continue your stroll with a cup of coffee or green tea at the "Takahashi Residence," a cultural exchange villa that is exactly as it was in the Taisho era (1912-1926).
A unique sightseeing spot is the "Igasaki Kite Museum. Visitors can learn more about the shapes of various kites from around the world, their history, and the reasons they are flown in the sky.
At the Tenjin Paper Factory, which produces calligraphy paper and shoji paper, visitors can observe the production of washi paper and, with reservations, try their hand at paper making. Both of these activities are perfect for children's free research, so they are also recommended for families.
If you are an outdoor enthusiast, you can spend an active day at Toyoju-gawara, a park along the Oda River. A waterfront area has been set up for visitors to safely enjoy playing in the river.
It is also an ideal location for picnics, and you will be able to spend your holiday enjoying nature to the fullest. Uchiko Town also has a variety of fruit farms, from strawberries to apples, where you can enjoy fruit picking almost all year round.
You will want to taste the seasonal river fish and seasonal fruits. You can also enjoy dishes using freshly harvested local ingredients at Sogen, an old private house café with a retro atmosphere, or at Soba Tsumiso Ryori Shimohoga-tei, a 140-year-old merchant house.
Japanese candles, a local specialty, are recommended as souvenirs. Japanese candles are not usually available, but they are popular for their low soot content, beautiful flickering flames, and extraordinary atmosphere.
Uwajima Castle was built in 1601 on a hill 80 meters above sea level by Todo Takatora, a famous castle builder. The castle tower was extensively renovated around 1666 by Munetoshi, the second lord of the Date clan, to its present form.The castle tower is one of the 12 most valuable surviving castle towers and is designated as a national important cultural property....»
This is a vast garden with two ponds that can be viewed on foot.The garden is over 150,000 square meters centering on a vast pond, and as many as 200,000 trees of 150 species are planted in the garden. The garden is composed of four zones: the mountain, which is covered with deep trees and has eye-catching mountain streams and waterfalls; the village, which is reminiscent of an Edo period farmhou...»
This is the Japanese garden of the Date family, former lords of the Uwajima domain. It is designated as a national place of scenic beauty. It took three years from 1862 to 1866 for Munenori, the seventh lord of the clan, to complete it in order to build a retirement residence. The total area of the garden is 11,240 m2 (one-third of which is occupied by a pond), and it is a garden of the pond fou...»
Giant bulls weighing over one ton clash in a ring 20 meters in diameter. The wild sound of the bulls' breathing, the high-pitched voices of the bulls, and the dull clash of horns against horns reverberate throughout the arena as the heated battle unfolds....»
The villa was completed in 1907 after 10 years of planning, 4 years of construction, and a total of 9,000 man-hours. The villa was completed in 1907. It has a garden and tea ceremony room with views of the Elk River and Mount Fuji, and is a concentrated example of the traditional beauty of Japanese architecture. The "temari" stones in the garden are from the garden of Tatsugoro Yodoya of Osaka, ...»
The castle was first built here in 1331 by Toyofusa Utsunomiya of the Iyo-Utsunomiya clan, who entered the country as a guardian at the end of the Kamakura period (1192-1333). It was called Jizogatake Castle because it was built at the confluence of the Elk and Kume Rivers. Although the castle tower was regrettably demolished in 1888, four turrets survived the demolition and are designated as N...»