Traditional Japanese House Tour _ The Old Mohri Family Estate Old Mansion Taisho Architecture.

Hi everyone, thanks for tuning in. Today I'd like to take you on a tour of a Taisho era manor house. This house was built for the Mori family. The Mori family ruled the Chugoku area under the old Han system. After the Meiji restoration of 1868, the last lord Morimoto Akira was made a duke and the family seat was moved here. Let's take a look. Through the entrance hall and to our right is a spacious drawing room. On the left we can see a beautiful courtyard garden. Leaving the parlor, there's a large staircase, but let's continue our tour of the first floor. Oh, just look at that garden. This is the Ohiroma, or the large reception room, overlooking the large south-facing garden. The large reception room was also used as a banqueting hall and consists of three parts, two large rooms plus an open corridor. The rooms of traditional houses are measured by the number tummy mats they have, the standard being usually six or ten. This room alone has 42. Leaving the large reception room, we come across another courtyard garden. Just beyond the trees, you're able to see the dining room and the ladies' apartments, followed by the gentlemen's apartments. Now let's take a closer look at Mr. Morty's apartments. This room and the adjoining room make up Mr. Morty's private apartments. The Taisho Emperor and the Showa Emperor both stayed in these rooms. Leaving Mr. Morty's apartments and heading right, we enter the ladies' apartments. The ladies' apartments consist of four rooms covering a total area of 27 tummy mats. The children's apartments and the family's Buddhist altar can be found behind these rooms. The children's apartments on the right have been converted to an exhibition area. Here's the dining hall. I've always liked this place. The south-facing garden, which we'll see in a minute, is beautiful. But somehow, this courtyard garden in this dining hall is my favorite. Adjacent to the dining hall are a few rooms, which I assume were used for guests. Now let's go upstairs. At the top of the stairs, we reach the second floor of a large reception room overlooking the southern garden. The colors and the motifs downstairs continue here. Leaving the second floor reception room and heading back, we enter Mr. Morty's personal bath. Mrs. Morty's private bath is unfortunately closed, so let's head outside and take a look at the garden. You can also buy tickets separately for the garden only if you wish. The house and the garden are open all year. Fall is the best time of year, but it is also the busiest. Summer is really, really nice, but it is hot. But the house is extremely cool and very comfortable. Being able to access the house through all areas from the garden is one of the things I really love about the Japanese house. You can see that here, every place has a stone access, a walkway up to the house. Now let's take a closer look at the garden. I imagine that long ago, people couldn't travel like they do now, so these gardens are all built like you're going on a journey. In the neighboring city, there's a five-story pagoda just like this. Just up here on the right is a lovely view of the house. A stone bridge separates two pavilions. Let's go take a look. There's a large koi pond below and another amazing view of the house. The house and gardens were designated a scenic spot by the prefecture in 1955. The Mori Museum was opened in 1967. In 1996, the national government designated Mori Garden as a place of scenic interest. In 2011, the house was designated as an important cultural asset. So there we are. I hope you guys enjoyed the tour of this wonderful, wonderful house, and I hope that you make it one day. It definitely is worth the trip. Until the next time, see you soon.