In Hayashino, Mimasaka’s cultural history comes to life through a range of themes: Anyoji represents gardens and religious cultural heritage, Kura preserves memories of Hayashino’s trading past, and the castle ruins take you back to the Middle Ages. There is also the Eyo Festival, held every February. Two questions are especially helpful when planning your trip: Would you like to plan around a fixed event date, or are you more interested in the history of architecture, gardens, and castles?
A fixed date in February
Anyoji’s Eyo Festival is a naked festival with an 800-year history. It takes place every year on the second Saturday in February. If you would like to plan your stay around this tradition, arrange it for the recurring February date. Check the event details for the specific year before your trip. This lets you plan your travel dates around a clearly established annual event.
Gardens and religious cultural heritage at Anyoji
At Anyoji, the garden and religious art represent two different aspects of cultural history. Behind the guest hall is a dry landscape mound; in the front courtyard is an area designed as a turtle island. The latter is traditionally attributed to Kobori Enshu. The temple also houses a concealed standing wooden statue of the Eleven-Headed Kannon, designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. The garden and statue offer contrasting focal points: the design of the outdoor space on one hand, and a single religious figure with a special cultural-property status on the other.
A former bank building in Hayashino
The building that now houses the Mimasaka Historical Museum was built in Hayashino in 1921 as a branch of the Senō Bank. Its main building combines traditional Japanese building techniques with a Western architectural style. The Mimasaka Historical Museum is currently closed. Its former use as a bank branch and its architectural combination place the building within Hayashino’s architectural history and distinguish it from sites whose histories are more closely connected to gardens, trade, or medieval fortifications.
Kura and the history of trade
The Mimasaka Townscape Preservation Museum Kura preserves an earthen storehouse from the time when Hayashino flourished as a trading town and conveys the culture and history of that period. Its exterior walls are finished in the namako style. One access restriction is important when planning your visit: normally, only the exterior can be viewed. Visiting the interior or using it as a gallery space is possible by application. Make arrangements for this before your visit. This allows you to appreciate the earthen storehouse both for its architectural form and its connection to the trade and culture of the period.
The Hayashino Castle ruins
Hayashino Castle was built at the confluence of the Yoshino River and the Kajinami River to control Hayashino. In the Middle Ages, the town was a transshipment point for river and land trade. The castle apparently already existed in 1361. The surviving areas include the summit and four enclosures on the ridges sloping down to the north and west. The fortified area stretches for nearly 500 meters. The ruins are a 20-minute walk from Hayashino Station on the Kishin Line. The castle thus combines a strategic role in a medieval trading town with an extensive fortification whose surviving sections are spread across several ridges.
The Eyo Festival is the clearest anchor when choosing your travel dates: it takes place every year on a set Saturday in February. Those primarily interested in Hayashino’s history will find several different themes, from the former bank branch and the earthen storehouse to the castle grounds. When visiting Kura, bear in mind that an application is required to view the interior.
Discover more destinations: Maniwa, Setouchi, Tsuyama, Hayashima, Kurashiki, Tamano, Nishiawakura, Kagamino
For the overview of the wider region: Okayama Prefecture.
