is the former home and garden of the Japanese ''

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. ''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...

'' (period film) actor Denjirō Ōkōchi in Arashiyama,

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. The villa is open to the public for an admission fee and is known for its gardens and views of the Kyoto area. Several of the buildings are recorded as cultural properties by the national government.

Location

''Ōkōchi Sansō'' is on the slopes of Mt. Ogura behind Tenryūji Temple and next to Arashiyama Park and the Sagano bamboo grove in Ukyō-ku, Kyoto. The closest regular train station (about a 15-minute walk) is Arashiyama on the Keifuku Electric Railroad Arashiyama Main Line. Torokko Arashiyama Station on the special Sagano Scenic Railway is even closer.

The villa

The grounds of the villa encompass approximately 2

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s and feature multiple buildings, including a Japanese-style home, tea houses, and shrines, amidst carefully maintained

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

s. They were built up over a period of 30 years by Ōkōchi to function as one of his residences. They were opened to the public after his death in 1962. The main structures were built in the 1930s and 1940s except for the Jibutsudō, which is a

Meiji Era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

building that was moved to this site. The gardens were designed to show off each of the four seasons. Since the villa is on top of a hill, the city of

, Mt. Hiei, and the Hozu River gorge are well visible from points on the grounds.

Facilities

Four of the structures on the grounds were recorded as tangible cultural properties (''tōroku yūkei bunkazai'') by the national government in 2003: * ''Daijōkaku'' (the main house, known for boldly combining '' shoin-zukuri'', '' sukiya-zukuri'' and other styles) * ''Jibutsudō'' (a Buddhist shrine, with '' irimoya'' style roof) * ''Tekisuian'' (a '' chashitsu'', or tea house) * ''Chūmon'' (the middle gate) There is an open-air museum dedicated to Denjirō Ōkōchi and an observation platform. '' Matcha'' tea and a sweet used to be included in the price of admission. They still offer various refreshments at the main teahouse, but the sweet has been abandoned.

Gallery

File:Okochi Sanso01n4592.jpg, Chūmon (the middle gate) File:Okochi Sanso11n4592.jpg, Jibutsudō File:Okochi Sanso18n4592.jpg, Tekisuian File:Okochi Sanso24n4592.jpg, Museum for Denjirō Ōkōchi

References

External links

Kyoto Kankō Navi
Introduction to ''Ōkōchi Sansō'' by Kyoto City (in Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Okochi Sanso Buildings and structures in Kyoto Museums in Kyoto Gardens in Kyoto Prefecture Historic house museums in Japan