Some of the oldest, wealthiest and best preserved traditional merchant houses can be visited in Tondabayashi, a small city close to Osaka. The beautiful room photographed here belongs to the Old Sugiyama Family Residence, a house once inhabited by an affluent family working in the sake brewing business.

The house, considered the best and oldest example of all the merchant houses in the area, was declared Important Cultural Asset in 1983, and the oldest part, around the kitchen, is about 350 years old.

Sugiyama house, Tondabayashi Jinaimachi

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Tradition and modernity, small shrine surrounded by skyscrapers