Sawara no Yado, a Machiya Inn in Little Edo Sawara

Sawara is one of the few towns in Japan where the atmosphere of old Edo still lingers. The rows of merchant houses along the Ono River are designated a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. Within that streetscape stands an inn converted from a former rice wholesaler's house built in 1879, the twelfth year of the Meiji era.

The Town of Ino Tadataka

Sawara was home to Ino Tadataka, the man who mapped Japan in the Edo period. His former residence still stands along the Ono River today.

Reborn as an inn while keeping the original merchant-house structure intact, this is Sawara no Yado. A rice wholesaler that ran for three generations, opened as an inn by the fourth.

The Doma and the Upstairs Guest Rooms

The ground floor holds a doma (traditional earthen-floored hall) and a living room. Upstairs are two guest rooms, one of four and a half tatami mats and one of six. Just two parties a day, up to six guests in all, with the house entirely to yourselves.

Because this streetscape has survived, we can keep this inn going too. — Mr. Suzuki, the fourth-generation owner

Dinner is at a long-established restaurant you'll find on a stroll through town. Mr. Suzuki books you a table at one of the places he knows well.

Staying with the Town

"When you stay here, you come to feel the town of Sawara that much more deeply." So says Mr. Suzuki.

The house keeps its old way of living; the renovation was kept to a minimum. So its age can't be hidden. But that is exactly how it should be.