HONJIN AND WAKI-HONJIN

These magnificent mansions of former notables are fine examples of preserved buildings. The Waki-honjin, also known by its original name of Okuya, played an important role in the Edo period. The Honjin and Waki-honjin mansions were used to house daimyos, feudal lords, and even the Meiji Emperor himself in 1880, when he escorted Princess Kazunomiya to Kyoto. Their construction is made from cypress trees. The Honjin, for example, was composed of ostentatious rooms, bathrooms and reading rooms.