The history of the Yoda family dates back to the Genji clan of Shinano Province in the late Heian Period (794ー1192). The family originally came from Yoda-no-sho, in today's Nagano Prefecture, but after the Battle of Tenmokuzan in 1582, they were forced to flee, and they ended up right here in Oku Izu. The first family patriarch, Yoda Sadonokami, settied here, and the current head of Osawa Onsen is the fourteenth in line of succession.
The main building took form more than 330 years ago. This large zelkova central post is 54 centimeters thick. The building took 13 years to complete and maintains its original form today thanks to the original Japanese construction techniques―not even a single nail was used. Originally the doors of the main building were covered with copper sheets and surrounded the main building as a protection against fire. However, the copper sheets were removed during World War II, leaving the lattice doors as they are today.
There are the storehouses in the courtyard. They include the miso-kura, or soybean paste storehouse; the kome-kura , or rice storehouse; and the dogu-kura, or tool storehouse. The miso-kura was built around two centuries ago. The kome-kura was constructed at the same time as the main building, about three centuries ago, and was once used to store rice for tax payment purposes.The dogu-kura was built to keep tools and antiques collected by successive family heads. Special guests, artists and writers were accommodated on the second floor of the dogu-kura. It's now called the tempo-no-ma guest room. The tachibana-no-ma room next to the lobby once served as the reception parlor. A protruding area where the wall is covered with square tiles was the original entrance and was named after the family crest, tachibana , or mandarin orange tree. This was regarded as the family's most important room.
The detached house, Choja-no-ma, or“millionaire's room,” was built during the Bunka Bunsei era (early 1800s) when the family business prospered greatly. The head of the family moved his residence here away from the main house, which was always bustling with visitors. In March 1999, the Japanese government designated this main building and its storehouse as an important cultural asset. We hope you have enjoyed this brief history of the Osawa Onsen Hotel.
	ＨＯＭＥ＞English page （PAGE ＴＯＰ）