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Stone paving at Tsuruno Chaya

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.

Cartoons on history

Cartoon on the history of Stone paving at Tsuruno Chaya 1

Map of historical sites

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Umeda Higashi Trivia Walk

Did Yosa Buson compose a haiku about the rape blossoms around the Chayamachi area?

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Up to the early Meiji Period, the area around the current Chayamachi area where the Tsuruno Chaya was located and the areas around Tenma and Kema were all known as famous rape blossom spots.
The famous haiku about rape-flower fields and the moon in the east and the sun in the west was composed in 1774. The master haiku poet who wrote this, Yosa Buson, was originally from Kema. It is said that in his later years, he frequently took a boat from his residence in Kyoto to the area around Chayamachi. There is a theory that he was thinking of the unspoilt landscapes of Chayamachi and Kema when this haiku was composed.

Where were the original grounds of the Tsuruno Chaya?

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According to documents from that time, the grounds of the Tsuruno Chaya were in the area marked in yellow on the map below. It is said that it was a high-quality teahouse enclosed by black painted walls.

Stone paving at Tsuruno Chaya MAP

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Where did the name Tsuruno Chaya come from?

The correct answers are here