is the former home and garden of the Japanese ''

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—'' Portrait of H ...

'' (period film) actor

Denjirō Ōkōchi was a Japanese people, Japanese film actor best known for starring roles in jidaigeki directed by leading Japanese filmmakers. Early life and family Ōkōchi was born Masuo Ōbe on February 5, 1898, in Ōkōchi, Iwaya (present-day Ōkōchi, Buz ...

Arashiyama is a district on the western outskirts of Kyoto, Japan. It also refers to the mountain across the Ōi River, which forms a backdrop to the district. Arashiyama is a nationally designated Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty. Notable t ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

. 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 is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. History The meaning of ''ukyō'' (右京) is "on the Emperor's right." When residing in the Kyoto Imperial Palace the emperor would sit facing south, thus the wes ...

. The closest regular train station (about a 15-minute walk) is

on the

Keifuku Electric Railroad is a railroad company based in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan (but with offices in Fukui Prefecture) in operation since March 2, 1942. It is a parent company of Keifuku Bus and Kyoto Bus, and an affiliated company of Keihan Electric Railway, which ...

Arashiyama Main Line. Torokko Arashiyama Station on the special

Sagano Scenic Railway The or Sagano Sightseeing Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of West Japan Railway Company (JR West) that operates the , Sagano Sight-seeing Line, or in Kyoto. The line uses superseded tracks of the Sagano Line (officially a portion of the ...

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), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

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 desi ...

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 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 is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

, and the

Hozu River The is a part of Katsura River in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The river begins in the mountains near Kameoka, a town northwest of Kyoto City. It snakes into the Arashiyama section of western Kyoto before changing its name to Katsura River. T ...

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 is a style of Japanese residential architecture used in the mansions of the military, temple guest halls, and Zen abbot's quarters of the Muromachi (1336－1573), Azuchi–Momoyama (1568–1600) and Edo periods (1600–1868). It forms the basi ...

'', ''

sukiya-zukuri is one type of Japanese residential architectural style. ''Suki'' means refined, well cultivated taste and delight in elegant pursuits and refers to enjoyment of the exquisitely performed tea ceremony. The word originally denoted a building in ...

'' and other styles) * ''Jibutsudō'' (a Buddhist shrine, with ''

irimoya The East Asian hip-and-gable roof (''Xiēshān'' (歇山) in Chinese, ''Irimoya'' (入母屋) in Japanese, and ''Paljakjibung'' (팔작지붕) in Korean) also known as 'resting hill roof', consists of a hip roof that slopes down on all four side ...

'' 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 is finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea leaves, traditionally consumed in East Asia. The green tea plants used for matcha are shade-grown for three to four weeks before harvest; the stems and veins are removed during ...

'' tea and a sweet are included in the price of admission and are available at the main tea house.

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