Picture credits: Hiroshi Suzuki

Tansan Hotel, a western-style luxury hotel, established in Takarazuka

This photo of a long wooden bridge over the Muko River in Hyogo Prefecture and a group of buildings that look like inns beyond it is a postcard from Takarazuka Onsen around 1900, with Europeans in the foreground.

Today, Japan is the most desired destination for travelers from all over the world, but at that time, it was shortly after the end of the Edo Period, the age of the samurai, in 1867. For people around the world, Japan was an unknown country.

Takarazuka Onsen has a long history and is mentioned in ancient documents dating back 800 years, but it did not open for business as a general hot spring resort until 1887. It is surprising that in such an era, a Western-style luxury hotel named the Tansan Hotel suddenly came into being to attract foreigners.

Picture credits: Hiroshi Suzuki

This postcard, taken from midair, is marked Takaradzka near the Tansan Springs. This is now a residential area, but it appears to have been the location of the hotel.

At the time, “Handbook For Travellers IN JAPAN” was a popular travel guidebook published by John Murray, London, which published travel guidebooks from around the world.

The Tansan Hotel was one of the first to appear in the Japanese edition of this world-renowned guidebook, but it was an English businessman who was behind the presentation of Takarazuka Onsen overseas.

Wilkinson Tansan explanatory signboard in Takarazuka City

His name is John Clifford Wilkinson.

He is the founder of Wilkinson Tansan, a carbonated drink that is still a global brand.

* Currently manufactured and marketed by Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd., Japan

Wilkinson, who came to Japan around 1878, discovered carbonated water gushing out in Takarazuka, where he stopped on a hunting trip around 1887.

After being sent to an inspection agency in London for analysis, it was found to be good quality water for medical and table use, and the plan to bottle and commercialize it was a great success.

As a factory was established in Takarazuka and a network of outlets expanded around the world, a hotel was built to welcome its business partners.

The beginning of international exchange is the Port of Kobe

The new trading ports that came into being in Yokohama, Nagasaki, Hakodate, Niigata, and Kobe played an important role for Japan, an island nation that opened its borders in the late 19th century.

Illuminated Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Building in Kobe, Japan

A foreign settlement was developed near the Port of Kobe, which opened in 1868, and the area, with its numerous systematically developed Western-style buildings, streets, and parks, has become an exotic tourist destination over the past 100+ years.

The settlement was designed by J. W. Hart, an English civil engineer.

One of the most famous British merchants was Edward Hazlett Hunter of the Hunter Trading Company, who devoted himself to the modernization of Japan, particularly in the shipbuilding industry.

The Hunter Trading Company's office was located at No. 29 in the Foreign Settlement. Wilkinson, who came to Japan, had worked for the Hunter Trading Company Group before starting his own business.

Wilkinson also opened an office at No. 32 in the Foreign Settlement from its inception to conduct sales and export operations.

This area, which still retains the atmosphere of a bygone era, has become a tourist spot that Kobe is proud of.

Weathercock House, Kitano Ijinkan, Kobe

There is also an ijinkan quarter on a hill called Kitano, which overlooks the Port of Kobe and the settlement area.

As the settlement became too cramped for the increasing number of foreigners from all over the world, influential merchants built houses uptown in a better environment.

Since then, more than 200 colonial-style foreign residences have been built, and the facilities that remain open for tours are still popular as tourist attractions.

Since there were many foreign chefs in Kobe, the Kitano neighborhood is dotted with British, French, Italian, Indian, Chinese, and other restaurants, adding to its appeal as a tourist destination.

Advertisement in the Handbook For Travellers IN JAPAN Courtesy of the Hotel Wakamizu

Thus, Wilkinson developed a business connecting the trading port of Kobe, and Takarazuka, where the soda factory was located, but there was no railroad connecting the two at the time.

If you look closely at the ads in the Murray guidebook, you will see that the means of access was as follows:

TAKARADZUKA is one and a half hour by Rail and Jinrikisha from Kobe

Since the railroad was not connected to Takarazuka until 1897, it means that until then, travelers visiting the Tansan Hotel had had a rickshaw experience.

Hot spring resort with a rich history

Please take a look at this photo of a stone pillar inscribed with the words, “Natural carbonated water is found underneath.”

The stone pillar in front of the bridge over the Muko River in the postcard of those days has now been restored on the grounds of the Takarazuka Onsen Hotel Wakamizu, which stands along the river.

If you look into the Muko River from there, you can still see bubbles of carbon dioxide bubbling up from the bottom of the river.

Picture credits: Hiroshi Suzuki

Takarazuka, with its high-quality hot springs and carbonated water, developed as a hot spring resort with the opening of the railroad, and Nakayama-dera Temple was a major contributor to attracting tourists.

Nakayama-dera

Nakayama-dera Temple is a sacred site founded by Prince Shotoku, a leading figure in Japanese politics in the 6th and 7th centuries, and has been passionately worshipped by influential samurai families in subsequent Japanese history.

The temple is also a fixture on various pilgrimage routes, including the famous Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and is visited by pilgrims from all over Japan and the world, and is also famous as a temple for praying for easy childbirth.

Nio statue at the gate of Nakayama-dera

Visitors to Nakayama-dera Temple can see this statue of Nio at the temple gate, which serves as the entrance to the temple.

Nio statues are statues that prevent foreign invasions of the temple, and two scary-looking statues stand side by side on either side of the temple gate.

The name of Wilkinson's early medicinal water was Niwo, and its label was designed after one of the Nio statues at Nakayama-dera Temple.

The concept was to “strengthen the stomach and intestines like a Nio,” and if you look closely, you will see that the model for the Nio face is Wilkinson himself, holding up a bottle in his right hand.

Picture credits: Hotel Wakamizu

In addition, there are the following other tourist attractions in the vicinity of Takarazuka Onsen that you should definitely visit.

- Kiyoshikojin Seicho-ji Temple
A historic temple founded in 896, it is dotted with power spots where shrines and Buddhist temples coexist. The approach leading from Kiyoshikojin Station on the Hankyu Railway is called the Dragon Road and is lined with restaurants and souvenir shops.
https://kanko-takarazuka.jp/english/recommend/culture_detail.php?id=97

- The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum
Osamu Tezuka was a world-famous manga artist known for his works Astroboy and Blackjack. This memorial museum is located in Takarazuka, where he spent 20 years of his life from the age of 5 to 24.
https://kanko-takarazuka.jp/english/recommend/art_detail.php?id=66

-The Takarazuka Revue
An all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture. Performances are always held in a large dedicated theater with a seating capacity of more than 2,500 people.
https://kanko-takarazuka.jp/english/special/kageki/

A hotel like a hot spring museum

 Hotel Wakamizu

The history of Wilkinson and the Tansan Hotel is brought to the present day at the Hotel Wakamizu in Takarazuka Onsen.

In front of the entrance to the large bath on the 8th floor, there is an exhibition corner displaying the history of Takarazuka Onsen, including the postcard photos mentioned in this article.

Picture credits: Hotel Wakamizu

There are also valuable materials, such as past bottle labels of Wilkinson products, that are still available for guests to view.

Hotel Wakamizu Exhibits

Takarazuka Highball, Hotel Wakamizu

Also, be sure to try the Takarazuka Highball as a memento of your trip.

This original three-layer cocktail has layers of violet-colored liqueur, Wilkinson Tansan, and amber-colored whiskey.

Plan a trip from exotic Kobe to Takarazuka in the footsteps of John Clifford Wilkinson, whose name has left its mark on Takarazuka's history.