「芳和荘」山口県萩市 / "Howaso", Hagi City, Yamaguchi Pref

※2022年、芳和荘をひとりで切り盛りしておられたご主人が亡くなったとのこと。 よって現在旅館も閉業となっています。私達は芳和荘に宿泊して建物や庭園を見学することは出来なくなりましたが貴重な資料としてここに投稿します。芳和荘の建物と庭園が後世に残されるよう祈るばかりです。

旅館「芳和荘」がある萩の東浜崎は明治時代から遊郭が立ち並んだ地区。この芳和荘も元は「梅木」という屋号で営業していた遊郭で、大正時代に建てられた築百年を超す建物です。二階建ての寄棟造の建物が口の字型に中庭を取り囲む遊郭ならではの建築様式となっており、中庭は一辺約6mほどの正方形のプランをもつ枯山水様式です。庭は、西側の玄関から入った側が正面で、大きな沓脱石を手前に、中心左手に主石として２つの大きな立石が男女和合を思わせるように寄り添い、左手前に礼拝石のような大きな扇面型の平石と石灯籠、および立派な縁先手水鉢、中心の右手には大きな山燈籠、右手前にもう一つ趣向の異なる別のより素朴な山燈籠が配置され、緑の苔で覆われた中に飛び石が幾つか置かれています。中庭には松や棕櫚竹（しゅろちく）または紅葉や山茶花（さざんか）などが植えられ、昭和三十年台前半に付加改修されたとおぼしきガラス引き戸越しに鑑賞できます。回廊を進む毎に緑の植栽の種類が変化し異なる風情が楽しめるようになっており飽きることはありません。また、二階回廊からのぞむ中庭の景観は、周囲をめぐる欄干や、四角く切り取られた頭上の青空も合わせて鑑賞でき格別です。四方を同じ高さ同じ様式の二階屋が取り囲んでいる中庭を見るのは生まれて初めての体験で大変感動しました。学生時代に学んだ中世ヨーロッパの修道院を思い出したりしました。大変印象的で装飾的な効果をもたらしている二階回廊をぐるりと巡っている欄干にはめ込まれた板に施された「ひらがな」は、遊郭時代の正式な屋号「梅木」に対しての隠れ屋号「ちょうしゅうらう（長州楼)」を透かし彫りしたものです。これは江戸時代の言葉遊びを踏襲した文化の一端で、隠れ屋号をひらがなにして、現代の東証電光掲示板のごとく回廊欄干に無限ループで繰り返し、途中一文字だけ字余りの「と」を挿入することで謎解きの難易度をあげたオツな趣向です。また、二階を朝日が照らす短い時間だけ二階回廊に落ちる欄干の影のなかに「ちょうしゅうらう」の文字が白く浮かび上がる設えになっており光と影の演出もなされています。日本庭園にも様々な種類様式がありますが、かっては日本全国に芳和荘のような遊郭があったわけで、「遊郭の建築様式と庭園」というジャンルが存在していたことを私達に伝えています。その意味において芳和荘は貴重な文化遺産と言えるのではないでしょうか。

◼︎名称：「芳和荘」

◼︎住所：山口県萩市大字大字東浜崎町２区の１

◼︎TEL: 0838-25-3470

◼︎営業時間：閉業

◼︎休園日：閉業

◼︎駐車場：あり

◼︎アクセス：「松下村塾」より車で約10分

"Howaso", Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Higashi Hamasaki in Hagi, where the inn "Howaso" is located, is a district where brothels have been standing since the Meiji era. Howaso was originally a brothel operating under the name "Umeki" and is a building built in the Taisho era that is over 100 years old. The two-story hipped-roofed building surrounds a courtyard in the shape of a square, which is a dry landscape garden with a square plan of about 6m on each side. The front of the garden is the side entered from the west entrance, and there is a large stone for removing shoes in the foreground, and two large standing stones on the left center as the main stone are close together to suggest harmony between men and women. On the left front there is a large fan-shaped flat stone like a prayer stone, a stone lantern, and a fine water basin on the edge. On the right side of the center there is a large mountain lantern, and on the right front there is another more rustic mountain lantern with a different style. There are several stepping stones placed in the green moss-covered area. The courtyard is planted with pines, palm trees, maples, and camellias, and can be viewed through glass sliding doors that appear to have been added and renovated in the early 1950s. As you walk along the corridor, the types of greenery change, allowing you to enjoy different atmospheres, so you will never get bored. The view of the courtyard from the second floor corridor is also exceptional, as you can see the balustrade surrounding it and the square-cut blue sky above. It was my first time to see a courtyard surrounded by two-story buildings of the same height and style, and I was very moved. It reminded me of the medieval European monasteries I studied at as a student. The hiragana characters on the boards of the balustrade that runs around the second floor corridor, which creates a very impressive and decorative effect, are carved into the hidden name of the brothel, "Choushurau (Choshu-ro)", in contrast to the official name of the brothel, "Umeki". This is part of the culture that follows the wordplay of the Edo period, and the hidden name is written in hiragana and repeated in an infinite loop on the balustrade of the corridor like the modern Tokyo Stock Exchange electronic bulletin board, with one extra character "to" inserted in the middle, which is an interesting idea that makes it more difficult to solve the puzzle. Also, for a short time when the morning sun shines on the second floor, the character "Choushurau" appears in white in the shadow of the balustrade that falls on the second floor corridor, creating a play of light and shadow. There are various types and styles of Japanese gardens, but brothels all over the country once had gardens like the one left at Houwaso, which tells us that a genre called "brothel gardens" may have actually existed. Many women may have negative opinions, but after staying at Houwaso and seeing the building, which was once a red-light district, I thought, "There was certainly a culture here, even if it was a heritage with many negative aspects." Houwaso is an undeniable and valuable cultural heritage that conveys to us today the red-light district that existed in Japan from the Edo period to 1958. If you go to Hagi, I highly recommend staying at Houwaso. *Only guests staying at the hotel can view the building and courtyard. If you wish to view the building, please be sure to stay at the hotel. Houwaso is located in the center of Hagi tourism, and is a very convenient location close to restaurants and family restaurants. (November 21, 2019) *In 2022, the owner, who had been running the inn alone, passed away. As a result, the inn has closed. I can only pray that the building and gardens of Houwaso will be preserved.

◼︎Name: "Howaso"

◼︎Address: 2-1 Higashihamasakicho, Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture

◼︎TEL: 0838-25-3470

◼︎Business hours:

◼︎Closed days:

◼︎Parking: Available

◼︎Access: About 10 minutes by car from "Shokasonjuku"