Profound Light, One of Japan’s Well Kept Secrets: The 18th Century Town of Uchiko

In the U.S. there were the 18th century railroad robber barons like Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford, and Charles Crocker. 

Then there was Yazaemon Haga, the vegetable wax baron of Uchiko.  In Japan at the time, wax was gold. Uchiko was once a prosperous center of wax and paper production. Merchants built mansions from the flowing wealth of wax made from Haze (wax tree) berries. Yazaemon built a home for his daughter in 1894 that now contains fascinating exhibits of Edo-period wax making. 

Japanese hollow paper wick candles draft air up the candle stick making for a clean burning flame without toxic black soot common to petroleum candles.  The toxic soot from petroleum candles would damage the fine gold leaf of Japanese temples so haze berry wax candles are the mainstay in Japanese temples.

Photo credit: Matsui Candle Atelier

Click HERE for Wax Berry Tree details

Making candles from berries.

Click HERE to see 18th Century Uchiko https://youtu.be/ftnrB9Mm4U0

At the Uchiko-za Kabuki Theater, you pass through trap doors and hidden entrances. It’s fame stems from an open Taiko-drum tower, boxed seating, broad ramp leading to the stage and the showpiece wooden, and remarkably engineered hand cranked revolving stage.

Photo credit: Tokyo Street View

Today there are famous Banraku performances 

(one of Japan’s traditional performing arts).