A NOBLEMAN’S HOUSE

Faint echoes of something at the reconstructed Hosokawa residence near the castle …

ExplorationsFragments of MemoryHistoricalKumamoto
Published on By

(image above: view of the inner courtyard)

Hosokawa Residence (Aiming for a time tunnel )

a stone latern on the way
a stone lantern on the way

One of the first Hosokawa lords was Hosokawa Tadatoshi. He is the one who later employed the services of Miyamoto Musashi a most famous swordsman of his time and author of Go Rin no Sho (Book of the Five Rings). Musashi has become a figure between fiction and history by the countless retelling of his life as literature, manga and highly addictive TV series.

A former residence of Hosokawa (Nagaoka) Gyobu is located within 10 minutes walking distance from the castle gate. The tourist guide mentions that it was “moved there” so in a sense also this probably is a reconstruction or a live history set. Quitely walking through the spaces you redraw an image of upper-class samurai life and imaginary time, in absence observing the various inhabitants of the house.

 

courtyard of a traditional house
courtyard of a traditional house
the reading, writing and thinking corner
the reading, writing and thinking space
Go Set
a Go set from then …
kitchen view (traditional housing)
The view of the kitchen, when in your mind you see the outlines of the ladies working there
passage way
Passage Way (Leaving the House)