Stone paving at Tsuruno Chaya

The area around here was originally a resting place for people travelling towards Osaka on the “Chugoku Kaido” and “Nose Kaido” routes. However, from the late Edo Period to the middle Meiji Period, it became known as a leisure excursion destination for the people of Osaka City. The area around Umeda at that time was beautiful fields that were filled with rape blossoms in the spring, so many teahouses prospered there as teahouses for flower viewing, including the Tsuruno Chaya, Kuruma Chaya and Hagino Chaya teahouses. This is the reason why this area is currently called “Chayamachi.” From the end of the Meiji Period into the Taisho Period, the Tsuruno Chaya began “High-class lodgings.” Many writers and artists began to live here and it became somewhat of a “Cultural salon.” Part of the stone paving from that time was relocated to the right-hand side pavement and still remains to this day.