Even for those who say they have visited Kyoto many times, there are still many beautiful landscapes that they do not know about. We will introduce four such beautiful scenic spots that are only known to those in the know.First partIn this article, we introduced the beautiful Japanese garden, Shokado Garden and Art Museum, and the stunning bamboo grove, Bamboo Path. In the second part, there are two locations where you can experience the architecture, gardens, and design, all of which will leave a lasting impression on your heart. Let's take beautiful photos of our encounters with unforgettable landscapes that stimulate our senses, and go on a journey that will remain in our hearts and memories for a long time.

The exquisite balance between garden and architecture is a great photo opportunity
Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Lodge Museum (Oyamazaki Town, Kyoto Prefecture)

A Western-style building with an orange roof can be seen halfway up Mt. Tennozan. This is the villa of Shotaro Kaga, a businessman who was active from the Taisho era to the early Showa era, and is currently the Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum. Everything about it, including its gardens, buildings, and designs, is so beautiful that you will be overwhelmed by it. It's even more surprising to hear that Kaga designed all of this himself. Kaga, who was active in many fields including the securities industry, traveled to Europe when he was young, toured the British Museum and Kew Gardens, and was the first Japanese to climb the Junggraf Alps.

It can be seen that those experiences and the scenery seen there are reflected throughout this Oyamazaki lodge. Even to modern eyes, a Western-style building like this would have been rare at the time, and there is no doubt that Kaga invested a lot of money into this building and garden.

The reason why this mansion exists beautifully as a museum to this day is due to Kaga's friendships at the time. Kaga was also a shareholder of Nikka Whiskey because he had a close friendship with Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of Nikka Whiskey. In his later years, he entrusted the company's shares to Teisaburo Yamamoto, the first president of Asahi Breweries, with whom he had a close friendship. Partly because of this, Asahi Breweries received a request from Kyoto Prefecture and Oyamazaki Town to restore the Oyamazaki Villa Museum, which had been under consideration for demolition, in the spring of 1996 as the ``Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum.''

In revitalizing the Oyamazaki lodge into an art museum, a new building designed by architect Tadao Ando, ​​``Underground Jewelry Box'' (Chichukan), was completed in 2012, followed by ``Dream Box'' (Yamatekan). By merging these old and new sensibilities, it seems that their mutual attractions are even more enhanced and a new breath of life is being born.

The core of the Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum's collection is that of Teisaburo Yamamoto, the first president of Asahi Beer. Yamamoto had a deep knowledge of art and supported the Mingei movement. It's great to be able to see wonderful crafts related to the folk arts movement, such as Kajiro Kawai, Shoji Hamada, Bernard Leach, and Keisuke Serizawa.

There is also a tea room on the second floor of the museum, and the terrace offers a spectacular view overlooking the three rivers of Kizu, Uji, and Katsuragawa. In fact, when Kaga went to Europe, he chose Oyamazaki, where these three rivers flow, based on his memory of the Thames River seen from Windsor Castle in England. This space, created with great care by Kaga, is unique. I would like you to stretch your legs at least once.

Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art

5-3 Zenihara, Oyamazaki-cho, Otokuni-gun, Kyoto Prefecture
Opening hours: 10:17 to 16:30 (admission until XNUMX:XNUMX)
Closed: Mondays (the following Tuesday if Monday is a public holiday) Year-end and New Year holidays, temporary closing days

Beyond time and space, the good old Japanese life is here.
Obanzai and Sake Nakano House (Nagaokakyo City, Kyoto Prefecture)

Along the former Saigoku Kaido road leading from Higashijiguchi in Kyoto to Nishinomiya City in Hyogo Prefecture, there is ``Obanzai and Sake Nakano House'', which is a renovated old townhouse with an atmosphere that is ``Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property Nakano Family Residence''. The Nakano family, which once ran a liquor store and was active in politics and business, has a history that includes the main building built at the end of the Edo period, and a tea room and an extension to the main building built in 1951 by Denei Kitamura, a master Sukiya carpenter. It has an elegant appearance. The building is so eye-catching that people passing by can't help but stop to take a look inside, so it's sure to provide an experience that transcends time and space.

The Nakano Family Residence was said to have been donated to Nagaokakyo City in 2014, and in order to make use of its valuable cultural properties, a business proposal was submitted, and ``Obanzai and Sake Nakano House'' opened in 2019. The interior of the store has a large dirt floor and an entrance tatami room where you can feel the design of the past, which leads to the back tatami room. From the large windows, you can see the beautifully maintained Japanese garden, which is so beautiful that it will take your breath away. Enjoying a meal while feeling the way Japanese people lived in the past is a special experience, and it will surely be an unforgettable moment.

Nakano-tei is operated by Kurashi Lamp, a general incorporated association that supports people with disabilities. We are open day and night so that people with disabilities can work according to their individual circumstances. They say they keep the work process as simple as possible so that they can work on what they can do under the guidance of support staff. And speaking of the food, it's absolutely delicious.

Here, the staff carefully prepares the vegetables, cooks each ingredient separately, prepares the soup stock, and repeats the process faithfully and carefully. That's why the gentle flavor is born and the ingredients are alive. The sight of them working energetically gives me energy.
I also want to let you know that you can enjoy exceptional coffee here. There is a roaster inside the store, where you can enjoy coffee from Laos, East Timor, Yunnan, and Myanmar. These beans and drip coffee can be purchased in-store or online.

Obanzai and alcohol Nakano House

Nakanoya Residence, 6-35-XNUMX Cho, Nagaokakyo City, Kyoto Prefecture
Business hours: 11:30-15:18 22:XNUMX-XNUMX:XNUMX
Currently, reservations must be made by 15pm the day before.
Closed: Sundays and Mondays

This time we introduced four beautiful spots in Kyoto that are only known to those in the know. Why not take a trip to find a Kyoto that is a little different from the usual Kyoto?

→　Click here for photo spots in Kyoto that you haven't seen yet (Part 1)

Photography by Natsuko Okada