Obuse

Katsushika Hokusai was in his eighties when Takai Kozan, a wealthy merchant of Obuse, invited him to stay; he made the journey from Edo several times and worked here in his final years, producing among other things the painted ceilings of two festival floats and a phoenix on the ceiling of the Ganshoin temple, some six metres across, done at eighty-nine and still in place. The Hokusai-kan museum holds the floats and a rotating selection of works. The town was compact and might have faded; instead, from the 1970s, it undertook a coordinated townscape project - repaving in chestnut wood and tile, opening private gardens to passers-by under an agreement between owners, and restoring frontages - which is why it works as a place to walk. Chestnuts are the crop, grown here since the fifteenth century, and the confectioners sell chestnut rice and pastes from September.

History

Obuse appears as a place name in late Heian records of an estate linked with Emperor Go-Shirakawa. In 1843, at 83, Hokusai came here at the invitation of the wealthy Takai Kozan and stayed for several years, and in 1932 the Canadian Anglican missionary J. G. Waller founded a tuberculosis sanatorium here, now Shinsei Hospital (Wikipedia, Obuse).

The main sights

• The Ganshoin phoenix - a six-metre ceiling painting made by Hokusai at eighty-nine.
• Painted festival floats - two ceilings by Hokusai kept in the Hokusai-kan.
• An open-garden agreement - private gardens left accessible to passers-by by arrangement.
• Chestnut season - the crop grown here since the fifteenth century, sold from September.

When to go

September to November for chestnuts and colour. Half a day.

Practical notes

The town is small and covered in a couple of hours. Museums charge separately and Ganshoin is a walk out of the centre. Chestnut confectioners queue in season. Photography of the phoenix ceiling is prohibited.

Nearby

Nagano and Zenkoji are south-west; the snow monkey park is north.

Key facts