なぜ伊予大洲が世界一⁈城下町に隠された魅力とは？【大洲・愛媛】

Hello everyone. In this video, I'm going to talk about Ozu City in Ehime Prefecture JAPAN, which was selected by the Dutch international certification organization Green Destinations as one of the top 100 sustainable tourist destinations in the world. In the Culture & Tradition category, it was ranked number one in the world! In the previous video, we introduced the efforts of Hotel Nipponia, which is located in Ozu, and this time we will continue to report on the charm of Ozu City, which is trying to balance environmental conservation and profitability, including its historical townscape, and pass it on to the future. Ozu City in Ehime Prefecture still has old townscapes along the Hijikawa River. Townscape preservation is being carried out nationwide, but I think it tends to be a bit lacking in vitality and vitality, but Ozu is a little different. The public and private sectors are working together to preserve the entire old castle town, and damaged buildings such as old houses and samurai residences scattered around are repaired to their original state and offered as accommodation. A representative example of this is the Ozu Castle Keep Stay. Starting with this initiative, which was the first of its kind in the country, Hotel Nipponia is considering the entire town as an accommodation facility and making it possible to preserve the townscape in a sustainable manner. Let's take a stroll through Ozu Castle Town. The streets of Ozu Castle Town still retain their old layout, with samurai residences and merchant houses lined up on either side of the street, creating a unique atmosphere that is the reason it is called Iyo's Little Kyoto. The area is often used for filming dramas, and there are streets and shrines that were used for filming NHK's morning dramas Ohanahan and Tokyo Love Story. Now, let's go to Garyu Sanso cottage, which is said to be the former residence of Watanabe Kanbei. Garyu Sanso is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property and has been selected as one of the 100 most famous buildings in the world. Garyu Sanso cottage is a masterpiece of sukiya architecture that was built over a period of 10 years by Meiji-era trader Kawachi Torajiro. However, Torajiro was ill and passed away without having had much use for Garyu Sanso. What a shame! The Ichizen Room is also used as a Noh stage, and the Bizen ware pots placed under the floor enhance the acoustics. At Furoan, you can enjoy tea ceremony hospitality while looking out over the Hijikawa River on Sundays only from April to October. I want to go! The Hijikawa River is the birthplace of "Awase Ukai." Cormorant fishing, which is done by fishing boats and houseboats running side by side down the river, has become a summer tradition in Ozu. The relationship between the cormorant fisherman and the cormorants is based on trust, and the cormorants also need to work together, so the best part of Awase Ukai is being able to see this wonderful, professional fishing up close. Tonight, we will be staying in a room in the storehouse at Hotel Nipponia. I have previously compared the storehouses in Ozu, so please check out my previous YouTube video. Pokopen Yokocho is a recommended spot for those who want to reminisce about the Showa era, just like Sunset on Third Street. You'll surely feel warm and fuzzy as you rediscover all the things you remember fondly. And then there's Ozu Castle. You can stay in a castle for the first time in Japan, with a specially designed bath and lounge to relax in. Please come and enjoy Ozu, which connects the atmosphere of the past to the future. I'm a lung transplant surgeon living in Qatar. I occasionally visit Japan to introduce Japanese beauty and culture, as well as wonderful tourist spots that we can be proud of overseas, to foreigners. I hope this video will be of some help to travelers both at home and abroad.