Appreciating Japanese Culture and Performing Arts

Noh and other traditional performing arts flourished in Nagoya during the Edo Period, when it was a prosperous castle town under the Tokugawa Owari clan. With this historical background, the Nagoya Noh Theater, which is located next to Nagoya Castle, opened in 1997, and its public performances of Noh plays have attracted large audiences, greatly contributing to the promotion and spread of traditional Japanese culture.

This museum houses and displays the valuable art and artifacts from the inheritance of the Tokugawa Owari clan, including Tokugawa Ieyasu. The most prized possession is the original illustrated scroll of the Tale of Genji , and it is displayed to the public only during limited periods. Every Saturday, elementary, junior high school, and senior high school students are admitted to the museum free of charge. In addition, in order to enliven the experience of history in a fun way, museum volunteers work with visitors to make and wear historical costumes and enjoy other activities based on a different historical theme each month.

Asuke Town in Okumikawa is now a tourist locale that centers around the area’s quasi-national park and Korankei, a famous area for viewing the scarlet maple leaves in autumn. But long before it become a popular tourist spot, Asuke was also known as a post town on the route for transporting salt inland to Shinshu. Visitors to Sanshu Asuke Yashiki, a recreated mountain village, can easily feel the life of people living in a traditional mountain community located in an abundant natural environment and experience some of their day-to-day activities such as weaving, indigo dyeing, paper making, and bamboo handiwork.

Visitors can enjoy learning all about tie-dyeing at the museum through viewing the many materials exhibited about tie-dyeing, watching and learning the techniques of skilled craftspeople, and actually experiencing the tie-dyeing process. For the practice workshop, reservations are necessary at least one week in advance, and only groups of 20 members or more are accepted.

The museum on this lane lined with beautifully-tiled walls is a restored building from the end of the Meiji Era that housed an original hongyo pottery kiln. The tiles that can be viewed on the floor of the bathroom and on the walls are said to be the oldest tiles in Japan. The vividly colored tiles are quite precious and almost none of this type remains, even in Seto, where they were produced.