Aomori · HirosakiNo.802★★Open in map →
Hirosaki Nakacho Samurai District
A protected block of samurai streets on the north side of Hirosaki Castle, where clipped cypress hedges and black gates still line the Edo-period lanes. Four former retainers' houses stand inside it, every one of them open to the public and free.
- FromHirosaki Station
- ~20 minKonan Bus, ~15 min
- Get off atKamenokomon-mae bus stop (Konan Bus)
- On foot
- Hirosaki Nakacho Samurai District
The sweet spot
Almost everyone who comes to Hirosaki goes to the castle park, and this quarter sits a few minutes beyond its north gate. There is no ticket gate and no crowd management because people still live here — the houses that open are the exceptions in an ordinary residential street.
Where it is
34 more notes in Aomori · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Kamenokomon gate and the north moatthe castle's original main gate, with the merchant street of Kamenokocho running along the moat in front of it
- The sawara hedgesclipped cypress running unbroken along the lanes, with black board fences and dark gates set into them
- Kyu-Iwata housea retainer's house in Wakadocho, free to enter, with its formal entrance step intact
- Kyu-Sasamori housethe only one of the four listed as a national Important Cultural Property
- Kyu-Ito and Kyu-Umeda housestwo houses sharing a plot at the western end, the Umeda house shut through the coldest months
How to actually get there
- Hirosaki Station to Kamenokomon-mae (Konan Bus, Hama-no-machi and Ishiwatari route, about 15 min).
- Kamenokomon-mae into Wakadocho and the Kyu-Iwata house (a few minutes on foot).
- Follow the hedged lane west past the Kyu-Sasamori house to the Kyu-Ito and Kyu-Umeda houses.
- Walk back to the stop, or south through Kamenokomon into the castle park.
- Konan Bus from Hirosaki Station
- From Hirosaki Station take a Konan Bus on the Hama-no-machi and Ishiwatari route and get off at Kamenokomon-mae, about fifteen minutes. The lanes begin across the road from the stop, two to five minutes on foot depending on which house you want first.
- Return from Kamenokomon-mae
- The same route runs back to Hirosaki Station from the stop on the opposite side of the road. Buses thin out in the evening, but the houses shut in the late afternoon in any case, so plan the return around closing time rather than the last departure.
About the place
Nakacho is the block of samurai streets laid out on the north side of Hirosaki Castle, behind the gate now known as Kamenokomon. The protected district covers about 10.6 hectares, roughly two thirds of the old retainers' quarter, and takes in the whole of Bakurocho plus parts of Wakadocho and Kobitocho. What defines it is the boundary rather than the buildings: clipped sawara cypress hedges run unbroken along the lanes, interrupted by black board fences, dark gates and deep front gardens. The street plan is still the Edo one, which is why the district was protected as a whole and not house by house.
How to enjoy it
The houses open at ten and close at four, and their days off are staggered across the week, so the useful question is which two are open today rather than which one you had in mind. From April to June, and through the cherry, Neputa, chrysanthemum and snow-lantern festivals, none of them close at all. The lanes are public road and can be walked at any hour, which is worth knowing if you are heading for the castle park early.
Background & history
The gate now called Kamenokomon was the castle's main gate when Hirosaki was first laid out, and the samurai quarter was placed directly behind it to guard that approach. The houses that open today belonged to middle-ranking retainers of the Tsugaru domain, with a formal entrance step, a guest room and the everyday living room set behind it. The Kyu-Sasamori house is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property, while the Kyu-Iwata and Kyu-Ito houses are prefectural treasures. The district as a whole was selected as a national preservation district in 1978.
Before you go
- Cash
- All four houses are free to enter, and the lanes themselves are public road. The bus fare from Hirosaki Station is the only cost, and the houses have no car park of their own.
- Before you go
- The houses close over the New Year period and on 13 August, and the Kyu-Umeda house shuts for the winter months. Snow lies deep here from December, and this is a lived-in neighbourhood, so keep to the road and do not photograph into private gardens.
- Another way
- Hirosaki Castle park sits directly south of the district, so many people simply walk out through the north gate rather than take the bus. The whole way from Hirosaki Station can be walked as well, though the bus saves a flat and uninteresting first half.
- After you get off
- From Kamenokomon-mae the castle's north gate and moat are on one side of the road and the samurai lanes on the other; cross into the lanes and the hedges start at once.