Nagatoro Day 1

Nagatoro is a small town/destination spot for people around Tokyo.  It is at the base of Mount Hodosan where many outdoors men come to hike.  There is also Ara kawa river winding through town, and it is a popular fishing spot.  The river also has a small "white water rafting" experience done in what looks to be an extra large canoe.  We didn't go on that, but we will probably go back to try it out.  We went to visit Miki's friend Chie as she is opening a new cafe portion to her family's tea shop.  We tried matcha lattes and small panninis made with a special local pickled leaf delicacy.  Everything was very tasty!  Aiden got to meet her nephew and niece that live in the same house, the boy was almost five.  Aiden loved to spend some time with other children.  The two Japanese children were very shy at first since they did not know any English.  Aiden was talking to them with the Japanese he knows, but it is limited.  Aiden was a great sport though, and just followed the kids around trying to get them to play.  He really loves to meet new people!

Tea Shop

After the tea shop we went to an old traditional Japanese house.  It is called Kyu Araike Juutaku and if the former Arai family's residence.  It was a silkworm raising farmhouse, and is now designated a cultural heritage asset.  The house was moved to it's current location from a nearby town and during the preservation work it was discovered the house had previously been renovated three times.  The house has now been taken back to it's original form though they are not sure when it was originally built.  They did find over 50 prayer cards from the nearby Mitaumine Shrine with the oldest inscribed as the 2nd year of Enkyo (1745).  Before entering the house there was a small museum of items that were in the house.  Most items were for their silk worm business and textile making.

An interesting thing to note about this house is the thatched board roof.  The chestnut boards are layered together and stones are put on top to hold them in place.  500 stones are used for the boards on this house.  They use chestnut wood as it is water resistant.

When you enter the house, the room is called "tobou".  This room is used for processing farm products and the floor is an earth floor "doma".  It has imprints on it made from straw mats that were spread on the floor and beaten strongly and hardened then removed leaving behind a pattern.  This room is also the kitchen.

The "zashiki" is the 'room' with the raised wooden floor, though no walls separate it from the tobou.  This was the room used for daily life, and has a sunken fireplace "irori" near the kitchen area.  When the silkworm raising season came, every single room was filled with silkworms.

The "dee" was a room for receiving guests of high standing and for ceremonial occasions.

The "oku no dee" was the most formal room and had tatami mats on the floor made of woven rushes.  There is also an alcove called "tokonoma" used to put a small house shrine or memorials in.

The "nando" is a small room for housing the family's important items.  There is a small staircase inside that leads to a bedroom.

small bedroom at the top with no natural light

The "umaya" is the place for keeping horses, and it was a regional feature that horses were kept inside the houses.

The "jigaraba" is a place for threshing ot hulling wheat, barley and rice.  It was on the second floor.

small balcony off the main room

The bathroom, "benjo" is outside in a structure near the house.  It has a hole in the floor and you squat over it to do your business.

The bathtub was actually in the house main room on the dirt floor part.  It was a very small tub that had a fire pit in the front to warm up the bath water.  Someone would have to stoke the fire while the other had a bath. Not a lot of privacy! 

The house was on a nice piece on land overlooking some mountain on one side and a bamboo forest on the other.  There was also a meadow filled with flowers.