Mino City is located in the center of Gifu Prefecture, roughly in the center of Japan. The city still retains the udatsu-lined streets built between the Edo and Meiji periods in the castle town of Ogurayama Castle, which flourished as a commercial center from the Azuchi-Momoyama period. This area is where merchants made their fortunes through the trade of “Mino washi,” a traditional craft with a history of more than 1,300 years that has been registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage as “Japanese handmade washi paper technology. The area is lined with the ruins of mansions with magnificent “udatsu” (roofed overhangs), and visitors can enjoy an atmosphere as if they have stepped back in time to that era.
The town itself was located on top of a hill and had poor water access, making it vulnerable to fire. However, since it cost a considerable amount of money to install the udatsu, it was considered a symbol of wealth to have a magnificent udatsu on the roof of a house, which is the origin of the idiom “udatsu ga nagarenai,” which is still used today. The town is also known as “Udatsu” in the Japanese language.
Mino merchant town, a town built on washi paper, offers hospitality that is unique to the town.
NIPPONIA Mino Shokecho” is a machiya hotel that opened in 2019, renovating an old house built over 100 years ago based on the concept of ” meeting in a town built by washi paper. The base of the hotel is the residence and warehouse of Matsuhisa, a wholesaler of raw materials for Mino washi paper, built between the late Meiji and early Taisho eras. Matsuhisa, a wealthy merchant and a man of culture who loved tea, spent five years completing the wooden house in the sukiya style, which he was particular about at the time of construction.
The guest rooms, named “YAMAJOU building,” consist of two types, the “main building” and the “warehouse,” with a total of six rooms: “Zangetsu,” “Mangetsu,” “Aya Nishiki,” “Yomeiden,” “Daigokuden,” and “Kongo. The impressive guest rooms are named after shoji paper brands. Mino washi is used throughout the guest rooms, including on the wallpaper and shoji screens. The rooms are arranged around a courtyard so that visitors can see a different garden in each room, and enjoy Matsuhisa’s unique design. The space is modern and comfortable, but at the same time, it offers a taste of Japanese style. In 2020, a five-minute walk from the “YAMAJOU” building, the “YAMASITI” building will open, renovated from the residence of Mr. Suda, who became a landowner as a Japanese paper wholesaler. The YAMAJOU building has a café attached to it, and guests can use the ticket they receive upon check-in. As a “decentralized hotel” with guest rooms scattered throughout the town, the hotel aims to develop the entire surrounding area, and has prepared a lot of recommended information on the surrounding area so that guests can enjoy the entire area.
Experience the climate and culture of Mino
NIPPONIA Mino Shokamachi” proposes a form of travel that ” allows visitors to get to know the area. At the Washi nary, a washi specialty store located on the hotel grounds, a “washi sommelier” invites visitors into the profound world of washi, just as if he or she were telling them about the history of wine and its charms. If visitors inquire in advance, they can try their hand at “letterpress printing” as part of their activity plan. In 2021, the “Gallery Collage,” a gallery introducing contemporary art, will open adjacent to the “Wasi-nary. A space where visitors can enjoy various artworks related to Mino will also be added.
Dinner is not served at “NIPPONIA Mino Shokamachi. Therefore, when the lights go on in the “udatsu-lined streets,” local staff will guide guests to recommended restaurants according to their preferences so that they can enjoy the atmosphere of the town and its food. After enjoying the nostalgic townscape to the fullest, you can relax and fall asleep in the quiet space. When you wake up, you will enjoy breakfast brought to your room. The breakfast is a beautifully prepared Japanese breakfast that uses local ingredients, and includes a variety of Japanese-style dishes, such as boiled and seasoned vegetables, and rice cooked in an earthenware pot. Staying in a building with a sense of history, walking around the town, and directly experiencing the local climate and culture. The real experience in this town will deepen your knowledge, nurture your mind, and show you a more colorful landscape.
