sangimi no yado

Wisteria in Sennan City, a famous flower spot.

The seaside area of Sennan City is gaining popularity for its beautiful beaches where sea turtles come to lay their eggs, its location as one of the top 100 sunsets in Japan, glamping, marché, and events.
There are also fashionable restaurants, sophisticated photo spots and activities, and a large shopping mall with a movie theater in the neighborhood, which has been developed across the neighboring cities of Izumisano and Hannan.
On the mountain side, on the other hand, there are many flower spots such as “Kinyu-ji Temple Plum Grove”, which has been in existence for 300 years and became a major tourist attraction with the opening of the Nankai Railway in the Meiji Era; “David Austin’s English Rose Garden”, which is favored by rose lovers around the world; “Rinsho-ji Temple”, with its beautiful azalea garden in a modern Japanese garden; “Chokei-ji Temple”, known as the Hydrangea Temple Chokeiji Temple, also known as the Hydrangea Temple, and many other places famous for their flowers.
Among them, we would like to introduce the Kajimoto family’s wisteria at Shindachi-shuku on the Kumano Kaido Road.

“Shinadachi-shuku” was crowded with pilgrims on pilgrimages to Kumano.

Kumano Kaido Shinadachi-shuku was crowded with pilgrims on pilgrimages to Kumano.

The “Kumano Kaido Road” was used for pilgrimages from Watanabeno-tsu (near present-day Tenmabashi-Kyomachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture) to the Kumano Sanzan (Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and Kumano Nachi Taisha). From ancient times to the Middle Ages, many royalty, aristocrats, and warriors began to make pilgrimages to Kumano Taisha via this “Kumano Kaido Road”.
This highway, which had been called “Nankaido,” eventually became known as “Kumano Kaido Road”. Shindachi-shuku was the most prosperous post town along the “Kumano Kaido Road” in southern Izumi.
In the Edo period (1603-1867), it was the first post for the Kishu-Tokugawa family during their visits to the “Kumano Kaido Road”, and even today, the rows of houses along the road remind us of the “Kumano Kaido Road” and “Shindachi-shuku” of that time.
The old houses are characterized by their narrow frontage and deep backs facing the road.

• Site of Shindachi-Shuku Honjin. This was the sleeping quarters of the Kishu Tokugawa family on their way to Edo.
• Shindachi-shuku’s nightlights.

Kajimoto Residence is located along Kumano Kaido Road.

• 
• The Kajimoto Residence is a private home located along Kumano Kaido Road, where the old townscape remains.
  The Noda wisteria planted in the garden of this house is a large tree that is 40 years old and produces as many as 40,000 bunches of flowers from a single tree.
  When the wisteria flowers begin to bloom, the fragrant aroma of wisteria wafts through the air, and bear bees fly around to collect the nectar.
  Mr. Kajimoto’s private home is open to the public only during the wisteria blooming season, and the “Fuji (wisteria) Festival” is held on weekends.

Noda wisteria is grown with great care by Masahiro Kajimoto, the “Flower Bloomer of the Heisei Era.

• 
• The Kajimoto family used to be an inn that also sold oil under the trade name “Yushin”.
  Mr. Masahiro Kajimoto, the previous head of the Kajimoto family, planted a rooted wisteria tree in a corner of the property in 1987, which was left over from a purchase for a flower exhibition.
  When Masahiro retired in 1990, he built a wisteria trellis and carefully nurtured the wisteria, which grew and blossomed in abundance.
  After that, people who heard about the wisteria began to visit year after year, and in the 21st year of the tree’s life, the number of flower clusters reached 10,000, and the first “Fuji Festival” was held in 2001.

• In 2006, at the request of Masahiro, the “Kumano Kaido Road Shindachi-shuku Wisteria Preservation Society” was established.
  In that year, the 26-year-old tree produced 27,000 clusters of flowers.
  Two years later, at the end of 2008, Masahiro passed away, but the tree has been cared for by the members of the preservation society who succeeded his wishes, and it is now a large tree with over 40,000 clusters of flowers.
• 

Let’s go see the Noda wisteria at the Kajimoto residence.

Dates of Public Open and Fuji Festival in 2023.

During the Open house period, visitors are free to tour the museum.

• Open to the public period

  April 16 (Sun) – April 23 (Sun), 2023

  Opening hours

  10:00 – 19:00 (Courtyard will be closed at 17:00)

  Fuji Festival Dates

  April 22 (Sat) – April 23 (Sun), 2023
  Both days 10:00 – 17:00

  entrance fee

  There is no charge, but a donation of 100 yen to help preserve the wisteria would be appreciated.

• 

Walk to the Kajimoto residence.

• 
• There is no parking around the Kajimoto Residence, but the parking lot of Chokei-ji Temple, a short distance away, is open free of charge.
  It is about an 11-minute (900 m) walk from Chokei-ji Temple.
  If you use public transportation, the nearest station is Izumisunagawa Station on the JR Hanwa Line. It is about a 9-minute walk (700m) from this station.

Kajimoto Residence along Kumano Kaido Road.

The photo shows the scene when I visited on the 2022 open house day.
Even though it was a weekday, many people visited the venue with cameras in hand.
Wisteria clusters were overflowing from the top of the wall of the Kajimoto Residence, and the fragrance of wisteria was wafting in the air around the area.

• Visit the Kajimoto Residence.
• Main gate of the Kajimoto Residence. The entrance to the public is on the far side of the photo.
• Lanterns are hung on the wisteria trellis.

View of the venue.

Benches will be set up at the venue, where visitors can view photo exhibits, purchase cut flowers and handmade goods, and tour the courtyard.

• The trunk of the Noda wisteria is on the right as you enter the hall.
• Handmade goods and flowers are also sold on open house days.
• The courtyard is landscaped in the style of a Japanese garden and serves as a photo spot.

Scaffolding has been erected by the preservation society at the back of the venue so that visitors can view the wisteria trellises from above.
The view is very beautiful and one can see a sea of purple wisteria flowers.

• Wisteria trellis.
• Scaffolding erected by the preservation society.
• View from above.

ACCESS

As mentioned above, the closest railroad station is “Izumi Sunagawa Station” on the JR Hanwa Line.
If using the Nankai Railway, take the community bus from Tarui Station and get off at the “Sunagawa Ekimae-Dori (street in front of station)” bus stop.
If you are driving, the parking lot of Chokei-ji Temple is open to the public.
Both of these locations are a short distance from the event site and must be reached on foot.
However, the nearest parking lot is available for people with disabilities.
For more information, please contact us from the following page on the Sennan City Tourist Guide “Koisuru Sennan – We love Sennan” website.
April 22-23 (Sat. and Sun.) “Fuji Festival at Shindachi-shuku on Kumano Kaido Road” will be held!

 

Route from sano no yado.

Route from Gomon no yado.

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