Matsudaira-go Enchi Park is a five-acre expanse of greenery next to the main road in the village of Matsudaira, along the way from Matsudaira Toshogu Shrine to Kogetsuin Temple. The park was designed to represent the local landscape as it might have looked during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries when the Matsudaira family controlled these lands. Seasonal flowers bloom in the park from spring to autumn. There are cherry blossoms...

On a now heavily forested hill overlooking the road into the village of Matsudaira is the site of a small medieval fortress where the Matsudaira samurai family were prepared to retreat in the event that their estate down in the village should fall into enemy hands. Though known as Matsudaira Castle, this stronghold is thought to have consisted mainly of rudimentary fortifications around the top of the hill, around 300 meters above se...

Myoshoji is a small Soto Zen temple with deep ties to the Matsudaira samurai family that ruled the lands around the village of Matsudaira from the late 1300s onward. The temple is located in Otaki Gorge on a terraced plot supported by moss-covered stone walls. It is a few minutes’ walk uphill along the river from the parking lot at the entrance to the gorge. The structures include the main hall built in 1854, a somewhat older gate th...

A Noh theater in the Toyota Sangohkan urban redevelopment building. Featuring a Kirizuma-style roof and a stage of hinoki wood, or Japanese cypress, it draws visitors into the world of Japan's traditional arts. A true Noh stage patterned after those in the Momoyama period in the late 16th century when Noh thrived, it hosts children's events and interpretive lectures in addition to Noh and kyogen performances. Visitors can also enjoy ...

Toyota City Folk Craft Museum is a facility that commemorates Shizuo Honda, a scholar of ancient ceramics. The inside is devoted to the appreciation of exquisite handiwork and the beauty of folk craft. The museum has started holding a number of lectures on Sanagekoyo pottery, Koromo cotton, and other industrial art with connections to the surrounding regions. Located in a wooded nature area next to Hiratobashi Park, the museum plans ...

Ogyu Castle was a large mountain fortress that played a significant role in local armed conflicts from the 1400s to the late 1500s. Its site is located approximately 3 kilometers west of central Matsudaira-go, on a hill some 200 meters above sea level with views toward the city of Toyota and the plains of Nishi-Mikawa. The first known fort on the hill was established by a local warlord named Nagasaka Shinzaemon, who was soon forced t...

Located inside the grounds of the Toyota Sangyo Bunka Center, Kirakutei is a modern Japanese-style building built between the late Taisho and early Showa periods. Formerly a restaurant and hotel, many famous guests stayed at Kirakutei, among them politician Korekiyo Takahashi, Prince Takamatsu, and actress Yaeko Mizutani. In 1967, Kirakutei was no longer used as a business, and underwent renovations in 1982. Since being relocated to...

Aizuma Exchange Center moved to a new building in March 2010 designed by architect Kazuyo Sejima, whose prior work includes the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. The curved surfaces of this unique building are made entirely of glass. Not only the exterior, but also the meeting rooms and multipurpose hall are circular in shape. The rooms are divided by glass walls, and the entire structure allows ongoing activities t...