I arrived in Ozu through a narrow passage that winds through the mountains of western Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s 4 main islands. As I descended into a horseshoe-shaped basin in the Hiji River, Ozu Castle appeared: a 4-tiered wooden castle. dating back to the 14th century, perched atop a central hill. Nestled protectively, along the riverbank, was the ancient city. The allure of the scene was enhanced by a soft mist rising from the river and swirling around the snow-capped mountains.
He had already visited Ozu in 2018, making a quick stop to see its castle further south. At that time, many buildings in the ancient city were abandoned, some abandoned, and some even demolished. It was quite abandoned, and after a quick walk, I continued on my way.
However, on my last trip in February 2024, I was struck by Ozu’s remarkable transformation. The ancient city was full of life and the square in front of Ozu Machi-no-Eki Asamoya, which serves as a tourist data center and handicraft shop. and local food, it looked like a bustling town square, with local families mingling with visitors. On my way to my hotel, I passed a row of sublime samurai apartments with giant gardens. One of them was Shun’s house, a place to eat that served Ozu’s dishes. Specialty, imotaki, a classic stew of chicken, taro and other vegetables, where people queued for lunch. Across the street, in the classic configuration of a city castle, were merchants’ establishments; Its newly plastered and whitewashed storage spaces now house cafes, bars, and a local history museum.
Often referred to as “Little Kyoto” because of a similar ancient appeal, Ozu was the capital of the former feudal domain of Iyo (much of present-day Ehime Prefecture) from 1617 to 1868, and its merchants grew rich from production and industry. of wax, silk, paper and wood. However, Ozu’s economic decline over the past century, like that of many riverside cities around the world, has led to the degradation of heritage sites and the exodus of citizens to primary cities.
Ozu is executing an ambitious plan to once support the region’s cultural hub (Credit: Ozu City Tourism)
To maintain the medieval cityscape and revitalize the local economy, Ozu embarked on an ambitious plan in 2019 focused on sustainable tourism, temporarily striving to preserve and convert its heritage structures into attractive hotels and new businesses. The goal is to repair Ozu as a cultural center of the region and attracts both tourists and residents.
Spring: Stroll along the paths lined with cherry blossom trees that line the hill below Ozu Castle.
Summer: Take a boat ride on the Hiji River to practice the classic ukai fishing method, where professional handlers use trained cormorants to fish.
Autumn: Enjoy the colorful foliage of Shirataki Park, identified as one of the hundred most sensational autumn foliage viewing sites in Japan.
Winter: Witness the Hijikawa Arashi, a rare herbaceous phenomenon of fog that engulfs Ozu and then flows down the Hiji River, turning into a windstorm when it reaches its mouth and empties into the Seto Inland Sea.
And it was an incredible achievement. In 2023, Ozu was named one of the top one hundred sustainable tourism destinations through Green Destinations, an official foreign certification framework, and a non-profit organization. That same year, it won first place in the Culture and Tradition category of Green Destinations. Story Awards, awarded for how he breathed new life into the city by reusing its cultural assets. Ozu is now paving the way for Japan’s ambitions to become one of the world’s most sustainable destinations.
I was staying at the Nipponia Ozu Castle Town Hotel, which is the centerpiece of the city’s revitalization. It is a “dispersed hotel,” a state-of-the-art public-private partnership between the Ozu city government and network stakeholders, in which the hotel’s core facilities and rooms are spread across other buildings and locations in the city rather than centralized on a single site.
When it opened its doors in 2020, it introduced visitors to Japan’s first chance to spend the night in a castle. Guests can also stay in 31 rooms spread across 26 other meticulously restored buildings scattered around the small town. By integrating visitors into the community, the hotel provides them with an exclusive opportunity to revel in the city while preserving Ozu’s historic landscape and the integrity of its way of life.
“Ozu’s transformation is a miracle” given the speed, intensity and good luck of this transformation, said hotel manager Yuki Inao, noting that the castle was nearly complete in 2023, the year Japan lifted its restrictions following the pandemic.
A longer stay at Ozu Castle is an elaborate affair. The fun starts after 5:00 p. m. , when the castle museum closes. Guests arrive dressed in kimono or samurai armor and enter the castle on horseback, escorted by an entourage of local samurai. Actors. After a presentation of classical arts such as gagaku court music or kagura Shinto dance, dinner is served at the Quran Tower, where the ancient lords of Ozu (thirteen generations of the Kato family) drank sake while gazing at the moon. Afterwards, visitors sleep in the keep, a unique two-story wooden open pit located in the castle’s main tower. Breakfast is served the next morning at Garyu Sanso, an amazing teahouse built by a wealthy merchant in the 1920s during the castle’s turmoil. Lawn overlooking the river.
Ozu Castle was the first castle in Japan to offer visitors an exclusive nighttime treat (thanyarat07/Getty Images)
For 1,320,000 yen (about 7,000 yen) per night for two people, stays at Ozu Castle are for everyone. However, I appreciated the city’s gesture of handing over the keys to its castle to visitors as a symbol of its welcoming attitude towards all. visitors, and my stay was an equally original and indulgent exconsistency.
There are regular trains and buses from Matsuyama City, an hour’s drive away. Cyclists on the Uchiko-Naikyo Rural Cycle Route can extend their adventure by riding 18 km to Ozu. temples, you will pass through Ozu as you make your way from Meiseki-ji Temple to Daiho-ji Temple.
Almost all of the hotel’s “rooms” are suites occupying entire houses located in the Old Town from one end of its approximately 1. 5 km route to the other. They range from the mansion where the Kato family lived after the abolition of Japan’s feudal system, from houses with secluded gardens and personal tea houses, to terraced houses located in the bustling city center.
My “home” for the weekend, a two-story terrace space that was once inhabited through a candle tree over a century ago. The upper floor included a bedroom overlooking a narrow alley covered with old department stores and a living room. A modern bathroom with a classic hinoki wood tub took up much of the lower level. Adjacent to its giant lawn was the hotel’s club lounge, where I enjoyed loose drinks at a drive-thru bar, mingling with hotel visitors from elsewhere who stopped for a convenient snack while exploring the city.
Throughout the weekend, I was completely immersed in Ozu’s surroundings as soon as I stepped out of my room. To reach the hotel’s front desk, I crossed a narrow, cobblestone street, past an imposing earth-walled storage space, now remodeled into another hotel suite: into the grand lobby of a 400-year-old mansion that once belonged to a rich wax mansion. A short walk down a cobblestone street led me to breakfast (a seasonal cuisine dish) at one of the hotel’s restaurants, an old ryotei (traditional Japanese restaurant). Dinner was served in an elegant old mansion located at the foot of the castle, at the opposite end of the old town, a 15-minute walk away.
The Nipponia Ozu Castle Town Hotel is the centerpiece of the city’s revitalization (Credit: Nipponia Hotel)
The hotel’s public spaces (restaurants, banquet halls, and gardens) are also open to the public. Diego Cosa Fernandez, sustainability coordinator for Kita Management, the organization tasked with coordinating Ozu’s revitalization plan and tourism activities, told me that the city’s definition of sustainable tourism is “a balance between others living and visitors in which everyone wins and no one loses. “As we explored the city with Fernandez and his colleague Ayano Iga, it became clear that this definition had been put into practice.
Overlooking the street, the hotel’s department store blends harmoniously into the cityscape and sits alongside a number of new businesses under development in other restored structures. The tenants of these new outlets were conscientiously selected, with an emphasis on local and regional craftsmanship and products, such as Tobe pieces, ceramics first commissioned from the Kato family in 1777; Ikekuchi organic cotton towels; and Silmore fitness and good looks products made of silk through the Takimoto Circle of Relatives, Ozu’s only silk cocoon maker. “They are very popular with local residents,” Iga said.
More like this: • 10 Sustainable Tourist Destinations to Visit in 2024 • Masters of a 5,000-Year-Old Craft • Japanese Philosophy for a Waste-Free World
While visiting the city, I was inspired to find the trendy haunted pants and jackets of the Monpe farmers of Unagi no Nedoko at their first store located outside their base in Fukuoka City. The elegant and sublime atmosphere of Ozu’s new businesses is an excellent choice. compatibility for the city’s reshaped identity as the cultural center of the region.
“When I asked Inao what he attributed Ozu’s successful transformation to, he replied that ‘it’s the way the city government, the hotel and the netpaintings paint intensively and collaboratively. ‘”We’re a family,” she said.
This welcoming network ethos is also attracting a flood of new residents, according to Yosuke Inoue of Kita’s Strategic Planning Department. He left his job at a Tokyo-based company to the 18th generation of his family to live in the city. But he is proud of the fact that more than a fraction of the new living are not repatriated like him, but newcomers to Ozu.
In summer, take a boat ride on the Hiji River to get to know the medieval city (Credit: Ozu City Tourism)
The new citizens I met during my stay (hotel staff, city employees, and shopkeepers) enthusiastically shared their reasons for choosing Ozu as their home. Their responses were remarkably consistent: an appreciation of the city’s rich ancient importance, its colorful power, and its spirit of collaboration. as well as the herbaceous and serene environment. This last feeling resonated with me. As an avid hiker, the winding roads leading from the city to the surrounding hills, where I discovered ancient Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines surrounding the city, enriched my experience.
The emissions needed to report this story were 0. 11 metric tons of CO2e. Find out how we calculate this figure here.
On my last night, I returned to the dining spot at Le Un Hotel, located at the foot of the castle, where each course of the seven-course meal was a delicious reminder of Ozu’s ability to harmoniously combine the old with the new, such as tai meishi, a regional specialty made from delicate slices of sea bream served over rice. Departing from the culture of serving it with raw egg yolk and a drizzle of soy sauce, this edition is topped in sabayon and bathed in foam infused with Kajita Shoten. Premium Soy Sauce: A complicated reinterpretation of a timeless classic.
As I contemplated the view of the castle lit up at night, I was reminded of Inoue’s explanation of the city’s slogan “Shiroshita no Machibito. “He described it as “the expected and expected user beneath the castle”, emphasizing that it embodies Ozu’s invitation to scale travellers and honorary citizens. When I returned to my rooms, I felt like I belonged there.
Green Getaways is a BBC Travel series that helps travellers discover a greener, cleaner way to get out and see the world.
—
Join over 3 million BBC Travel enthusiasts by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter and Instagram.
If you liked this story, sign up for The Essential List newsletter: a hand-picked assortment of must-see features, videos, and news delivered to your inbox every Friday.