# Michi-no-Eki Takehara

> A town-centre station on Route 185 that doubles as the entrance to Takehara's preserved merchant quarter. Park here, walk the old streets, and come back for sake from the town's three breweries and local bamboo craft.

- Prefecture: Hiroshima
- Type: Michi no eki
- Address: Takehara, Hiroshima, Japan
- Hours note: The station is listed as 9:00 to 17:00, with the produce corner open to 18:00 from July to September. It closes on the third Wednesday of each month (the next day if that is a holiday). The restaurant serves lunch until about 14:30 and closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
- Parking and toilets: free, open 24 hours
- Official site: https://www.iine-takehara.com/michinoekitakehara

Most roadside stations sit out among fields. Michi-no-Eki Takehara is in the middle of town, on Route 185 at the gateway to the Takehara preserved district, the old salt and sake merchants' quarter that gets called Aki's little Kyoto. It opened in October 2010 on the site of the former police station and was renovated in 2020. JR Takehara Station is a short walk away.

The ground floor sells local vegetables and fruit, frozen local fish, sweets, miso, soy sauce and tofu. Upstairs, the tourist information corner stocks sake from Takehara's three breweries, bamboo crafts and pottery. It is the obvious place to pick up a bottle after walking past the breweries themselves.

The restaurant leans on local ingredients: udon topped with Togeshita beef, katsu curry made with pork cutlets from a local butcher, and a bowl of marinated Seto Inland Sea white fish. It serves lunch only and closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The whole station closes on the third Wednesday of each month, which is worth checking before a midweek trip.

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Source: Michi-no-Eki Takehara — Japan Voyage