A living room in which Ogai stayed has been preserved as "Maihime no Ma," or room of Maihime.
We talked with Misako Nakamura, a proprietress of Suigetsu Hotel Ogaisou. (This interview was conducted on April 24, 2019.)
About Ogaisou
Q: What made Ogai live in Ikenohata?
Nakamura: First of all, this house was built here in 1886, and will turn 133 years old this year as Ogai's former residence in which he wrote "Maihime" and entered upon a literary career. It escaped damage of the Great Kanto Earthquake and air raids during the Second World War. A bedrock lies under its foundation from the entrance to the building of Ogaisou, so it is a very strong house that withstood the Great Kanto Earthquake registering a magnitude of 7.9.
This house was originally owned by the Akamatsu family. It was built by a shrine carpenter, so no nail was used. Although the Akamatsu family was based at Iwata in Shizuoka Prefecture, they had four houses in Tokyo in the Meiji Period. This house is one of them. Since Ogai Mori got married with Toshiko, the eldest daughter of the Akamatsu family, this house was selected as their new home. Ogai was not adopted into the Akamatsu family, so this house became a property of the Mori family. In this house, Ogai made "Maihime" public on January 3, 1890, the next year of his marriage.
So this house is called the birthplace of the literature of Ogai Mori, and literary monuments that are "Maihime no Hi," or monument of Maihime, and "Omokage no Hi," or monument of Omokage, are set up in the courtyard. It is said that this house is the only place that has two literary monuments. When Ogai lived in this house, he used to walk up Muenzaka Hill from here, stroll around Shinobazuno Pond, dine in a soba restaurant called Rengyoku-an, and come back to this house. It is said that the restaurant was a setting for "Gan," a novel written late in his life.
The Monument of Maihime. The inscription was selected by Rui Mori, a son of Ogai, and the monument was built through an effort of Izumi Hasegawa who was the leading authority on Ogai Mori.
The Monument of Omokage, which was built along with the monument of Maihime. The two literary monuments were made with stone that was placed at the entrance at that time.
Q: In what circumstances did you buy Ogaisou?
We bought this house in 1946. A person who lived in this house offered it for sale. We started running Suigetsu Ryokan next to Ogaisou in 1943, and Ogaisou went up for sale three years later. It was a very expensive house because Ogai lived in it. Although our founder used up money to establish the inn, and did not have capital on hand, he had a sense of crisis that this housed would not continue to exist if he did not obtain and maintain it, so he borrowed money, and barely managed to purchased it.
It is undeniably true that Ogai wrote "Maihime" in this house, and entered upon a literary career, so it is also very important that our founder purchased this house out of sheer desire to preserve Ogaisou. We think that this house can be preserved if customers stay in it, and we run it as a hotel with good management. Our mission is to have many customers visit and know Ogaisou, and tell as many people as possible that Ogai Mori, a great literary figure in the Meiji Period, lived in this place. Therefore, I explain about Ogai to customers who have meals in this house whether they like it or not.
Q: Did Suigetsu Hotel purchase the entire grounds of Ogai's former residence?
The grounds were put up for sale by the piece, but we bought the entire grounds of the Akamatsu family, which were about 2,600 meter squares. There is a red brick wall, which is a symbol of the Akamatsu family, at the edge of our hotel.
When I became the proprietress, I knew little about Ogai Mori, so Izumi Hasegawa, who was the leading authority on Ogai Mori, worried about it, and taught me various things about Ogai. On one occasion, I told him that there was a red brick wall. He said he really wanted to see it, and saw it from end to end. He said that this was certainly a red brick wall from the period of the Akamatsu family, and it was very good that the red bricks were preserved. (continued in the right column)
Red bricks, which indicate that the grounds were owned by the Akamatsu family, are still preserved as parts of the outer wall.
Q: Do the garden also remain as it was at that time?
We have taken care of it, and it is almost the same as it was. There is a pond. A Japanese nutmeg and a round-leaf holly are more than 300 years old. A pomegranate is also more than 200 years old. So those garden trees have existed even before Ogai lived in this house.
There is an impressive round-leaf holly over 250 years old at the side of the entrance.
Q: Which part of the house was restored in 2002?
It was the entrance. The entrance and the Room of Omokage were newly made. Since this residence was a historic baronial house, the directional aspect was taken seriously. It was the time when people believed that good luck came from the southeast, so the entrance was placed in the southeast. I heard that the entrance was placed in the southeast, facing Dobutsuen Street, at that time. The entrance was moved to the present location when the previous hotel was built, and it was restored in 2002.
A shoe cupboard placed at the entrance is the one used by Ogai. It is a very old shoe cupboard, and was allegedly made in around 1886. No nail is used for the shoe cupboard.
Q: Have Ogai's belongings other than the shoe cupboard been preserved?
There is an old storeroom. A function of storehouses in the Edo Period was to protect possessions from fire, so many storehouses were located outside of houses. However, this house was owned by men of high standing, so priority was given to convenience that the storeroom could be entered even if it was raining rather than protecting from fire.
The storeroom is now called "Kura no Ma," and used for dinner parties.
The storeroom's doors are heavy and refined, and retain the appearance of that time.
Ogai's handwriting, which was used for an inscription on the monument of his superior, is displayed in "Maihime no Ma."
Q: Are there some events that are related to Ogai?
Although it is currently not on the menu, since Ogai liked to eat "Ishiyaki-imo," or sweet potato roasted in hot pebbles, we used to serve a small potato, which was likened to Ishiyaki-imo, as a garnish for a traditional Japanese multi-course meal.
One of Ogai's favorite dishes was boiled rice with a bean-paste bun soaked in tea. Although a Rakugo comic storyteller once ate it in this hotel, it was planned by the customers, so it was not a meal that we prepared spontaneously.
A monogram of "MR" that represents Ogai (Rintaro Mori) is printed on the cup.
Misako Nakamura, a proprietress of Suigetsu Hotel Ogaisou
Suigetsu Hotel Ogaisou has Ogai's former residence in its grounds, in which Ogai lived in 1889 after studying in Germany. Ogai wrote his early works, including "Maihime" and "Omokage" in the redidence. (3-3-21 Ikenohata, Taito City)
