Take-Sho Zhuang (武相莊) is a villa owned by Jiro Shirasu, a former president of Tohoku Electric Power (TEPCO), and his wife Masako. Shirasu spent a part of his education in Cambridge, England, though he returned to Japan afterward to take care of his family business. His experience and inclination to the west is reflected in many exhibits from the Western world.
Situated on a small hill away from the hustle and bustle of the town, the villa (also known as Shirasu House) is hidden by green plants and other small houses. If you enter from the car park, you will walk along a path that winds through a bamboo forest and past a pond before reaching the steps that lead to the entrance area of the villa. Before the main gate on the left is a café where visitors can enjoy the surroundings and admire the black classic Bentley owned by Jiro Shirasu. As a car lover, he also had a Porsche; unfortunately, this was not kept until today.
Through the main gate, you will first find on the right hand side a small elevated house, which houses a small drinking lounge with a small bar in the corner. Here the exhibits showcase some old letters, “expired” wine and old wooden furniture. Hanging on the wall next to the bar is a big poster of Jiro Shirasu and Masako Shirasu.
A few steps further inside is the main bungalow, which doubles as the museum. The spacious interior is clearly divided into different rooms, each having its own purpose. You first enter the living room, decorated elegantly with old wooden furniture. Foreign magazines such as Times, Newsweek and Post lie together with wine and tea utensils on a big table, which hints at the foreign influence on Shirasu’s life. Passing through another room you will reach the reading room, where the walls are lined with books and the space in front of the window hosts a small reading desk. The next large room is the dining room, where, surrounding the fireplace in the middle, a number of utensils including drinking cups, plates, bowls, wine jars and kettles from different places and different historical periods of Japan are displayed. Next to it is the dressing room, with beautiful textiles lying on the ground as well as traditional clothing hanging up as exhibits. Through a short corridor with views of the front courtyard outside you will return to the living room.
The garden behind the main house is another important part of the villa. A small path winds through the garden and makes a circle back to the front courtyard. It is only a short walk through the garden; yet one can easily sense the unity of the old house and its natural surroundings, including the courtyards and other garden decorations. Tranquility and seclusion filled the whole place, which, I believe, must have made a wonderful setting for Shirasu to escape from the heavy duty in work and politics.
The souvenir store at the main entrance closes together with the museum at 5pm. But the restaurant and café open until 8:30pm, which grants you more time to enjoy the evening before returning to the city.
