By Cathy Hirano

The other day I was offered a glimpse of Takamatsu’s past through the lens of what was once an enormous mansion named Urushihara Manor. Built about 150 years ago, the site is as big as a school with the grounds included. If you can read the plan drawing below, you will notice a shrine up in the north corner and a bridge at the bottom to cross the moat, and I mean moat not just a ditch.



Why was this home built like a fortress, with protection from the gods to boot? Because the owner was the village official who stored all the grain collected as tax before sending it on to the lord. That was a hefty responsibility. Beyond the moat, thick walls surrounded the site to deter thieves



and the entrance was flanked by long gatehouses that sheltered workers and servants, as well as various tools and equipment.



The namako ridged plaster on the walls and the seamless fitting of the stone foundations are testimony to the wealth of its owner.



Landlords dominated Japan’s rural society and politics until the end of World War II. Elderly neighbors have told me that all the land around our home once belonged to a single landlord. The fields were worked by tenants and they, as children, were very aware that they were walking across the landlord’s fields when they went to school.


Aerial view (Urushihara Manor is the green square left of center)

All that changed under the American Occupation and the push towards democratization. Drastic land reform demolished the class structure by redistributing farmland to commoners. This was bad news for Urushihara Manor. Suddenly the owner found himself with an immense residence but not enough farmland to generate the income needed for its upkeep. The result was rapid decline, and the building was abandoned within 20 years. After it was abandoned, Shuji Terayama used the premises for filming “Grass Labyrinth”, and others tried to find ways to preserve it, but in the end, it simply cost too much to maintain.



Now, the jungle has taken over and the buildings within have all but disintegrated into the forest, testimony to the end of an era.



Takamatsu Access:
Takamatsu can be reached by direct flights from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, by express bus from Kansai International Airport (3 hr), and by direct flights from China and Korea. It can also be reached by taking the bullet train to Okayama and changing to the Marine Liner bound for Takamatsu (runs every 1/2 hour; takes 1 hour). For more info see http://wikitravel.org/en/Takamatsu