Maizuru’s Yoshiwara District

This area was featured in our Kyoto by the Sea Times article, Pioneers of the Sea. So if you missed it, it will provide a dive into the history of the area. This page will feature some key locations in Maizuru City’s Yoshiwara District, only 2km from Nishi-Maizuru train station (with a JR line and limited express trains from Kyoto City).

The must see of Yoshiwara

• Hinodeyu Public Bath

Hinodeyu is a Public Bath that had it’s 100-year anniversary in October, 2020. The site is also being registered as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan and for a good reason. The family run bath has been a hallmark of the historic Yoshiwara district of Maizuru City since 1920, and is run by Takahashi Ichiro (71) and his mother who is ninety-six years old. The Yoshiwara district is wholly unchanged since its establishment in the early 1700’s when fishermen were relocated to this area by order of the Tanabe Clan who controlled Tanabe Castle at the time. Walking the narrow streets that run along canals with houses built right up against them will give you a good idea of how people were living hundreds of years ago in this area.

• The baths at Hinodeyu are beautifully maintained by Ichiro, and are finished in stone tile that Ichiro’s father tiled himself in 1954. It’s an amazing location and only 2 kilometers from Nishi-Maizuru Station.

  For inquiries: 0773-75-0366 (Japanese)

  hours of operation: Sun-Fri 16:30-20:30 (closed on Saturdays)

Things to try

• Maizuru Kamaboko fish cake Workshop

Maizuru is well-known as a fishing port, and with the aim of supporting not only the fishing industry, but traditional food culture associated with the fishing industry, Maizuru City and the Tourist Association are helping promote the area as a "Kamaboko Town." This factory makes kamaboko fish cakes using a variety of fish, including a lot of local seafood. Kamaboko is a very popular food with a long history, all of which can be experienced during the kamaboko making workshop. The workshop gives visitors the opportunity to make a variety of fish cakes. You may just discover your new favorite food.

TEL: 0773-77-5400 (Maizuru Regional Tourism Organization)
address: 1013-11 Shimoyasu, Maizuru City, Kyoto Prefecture
hours:9:30 to 17:00 (Monday to Saturday * Closed on Sundays and public holidays)
Reservations are required in advance.
closed: no fixed closing

comments:
・ Please contact us at least 4 days before your desired date of reservation.
・ Capacity: 35 people (minimum 3 people)
・ Your workshop experience may be combined with other groups.

And if your travel schedule overlaps, don’t miss the following events:

• Yoshiwara Tachifuri

Yoshiwara Tachifuri is a traditional folk performance put on in the Yoshiwara district of Maizuru. It is a combination of dance, theater, and ritual that closely resembles a martial art demonstration. A series of performers dance in pairs while wielding, spinning, and jumping over their swords and staffs, enacting battle scenes from the siege of Tanabe in 1600. During this conflict, fishermen from the local area helped the gravely outnumbered forces of Hosokawa Yusai, also known as Hosokawa Fujitaka (1534–1610), to defend Tanabe Castle. Records show that the performance has been held in the region since at least the middle of the Edo period (1603–1867).

Yoshiwara Tachifuri is performed to the music of flutes and drums. While older dancers perform with the blades of their swords exposed, the youngest performers, who may be children as young as nursery-school age, carry poles with paper tassels on either end. Performances last for approximately one hour and are held at six locations, including Asashiro Jinja Shrine and Maizuru Park, the former site of Tanabe Castle.  As they move between venues, the dancers follow a portable Shinto shrine procession. Yoshiwara Tachifuri is held once every four years, on November 3.

• Yoshiwara Mondoro Festival

Yes, that mast is on fire, and those are sparks raining down on all but the central figure climbing to the top as it is spun around and around. This incredible festival began about 300 years ago, when the village suffered from poor catches and swarms of jellyfish. The festival was a simultaneous effort to appeal to the sea gods for an abundant catch and protect against maritime accidents, as well as to exterminate the jellyfish. Click on the image to check out the photo essay of this mind blowing festival.

This festival happens every year on August 16th, starting at 7:30 pm.

Read more about Yoshiwara and its history in Kyoto by the Sea Times.