Shiga

Jul 19, 2014 - 1 min read

Kusatsu Honjin Juku

High class feudal era hotel on Tokaido and Nakasendo

By Cathy Cawood

Community writer

Wide corridor with red carpet between the guest rooms

Ikebana arrangement in the entrance, backed by a beautiful gold screen

A verandah overlooks a simple enclosed garden.

Glimpse of garden framed between sliding doors

Large cushion on a tatami platform

Red tassels decorate an ornate finger plate on a sliding door

Gold and green wall-paper in a guest room

Beautiful lighting on a dull spring day

Guests would wash off the dust and grime of travel in this wooden tub

Array of cooking stoves in the earth-floored kitchen

Looking up into the rafters

Flagstones set into the dirt floor of the kitchen

Simple and elegant traditional decor

Thick walled store-house with small fire-proof windows

Ikebana in a room with a slatted window

A short walk from Kusatsu Station in Shiga prefecture will bring you to a magnificently preserved inn which was a rest stop for Japanese nobility during feudal times. Because the two main routes between Kyoto and Tokyo, Tokaido and Nakasendo, passed through Kusatsu, it was an important on the long journey between Kyoto and Tokyo. The Meiji Emperor broke his journey here, as did many other famous and important historical figures.

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Cathy Cawood

By Cathy Cawood

Community writer

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