Private Sauna & Hotel
Founded over 250 years ago
Osakaya was founded in the Edo period. There was an inn called Osakaya on the Kumano Kodo, a road that connects Kumano Taisha Shrine with Osaka, which is now a designated World Heritage Site. Osakaya was bustling with travelers on their pilgrimage to Kumano and travelers in processions of feudal lords on their alternate attendance tours. Considering that pilgrimages to Kumano began in the Heian period, Osakaya's roots may be longer than 250 years.
From the inn to the lumberyard
As the Edo period ended and the Meiji and Taisho periods began, the development of transportation such as railroads and automobiles led to the post town where Osakaya was located falling into disuse. Osakaya was forced to close its doors, but in 1926, it decided to open a new lumber store. The store was named "Kitamura Toshishichi Shoten" after its founder.
Changing Times
During the Showa era, when wooden buildings were the norm, Kitamura Risshichi Shoten was a huge success. However, as times changed, reinforced concrete buildings became more common, cheap foreign wood was used for wooden buildings, and home builders no longer cared about what kind of wood was used. "We want more people to know the quality of Japanese architecture." With this desire in mind, a project was started to revive Osakaya, which had once closed down.
present day
And in this modern age, what healing do we seek when we are tired of our daily lives? A park in a big city? A night view from a stylish one-room apartment? Of course, both are wonderful. But we must not have forgotten. The comfort of Japanese trees, Japanese houses, and Japanese gardens. The maple leaves falling on garden stones, the cries of the bell crickets, the moon floating above a tiled roof.
Come to Osakaya to remember your precious ones.