Momosuke Fukuzawa Memorial Museum

This villa along the Kiso River was built in 1919 by Fukuzawa Momosuke, the entrepreneur who developed six hydroelectric power stations along the river. He hosted politicians and foreign consultants here with his partner, the geisha and actress Kawakami Sadayakko. The ground floor features a river stone fireplace built by Japanese craftsmen unfamiliar with Western hearths, its mantelpiece visibly warped from the heat. Upstairs, a charming color map from 1937 shows all of Momosuke's operations along the Kiso. Original bridge blueprints hang in the corridor, and the Momosuke Bridge is visible from the back of the house.