In April of the 3rd year of Bunkyu (1863), the feudal lord of Hagi, Mori Takachika, moved the han office from Hagi to Yamaguchi City in order to deal with the political situation of the Bakumatsu. He built the government palace on the same spot as today’s prefectural office. At the same time, he set up a tea ceremony house near the government palace, on the foot of Ichirozan Mountain, and, omitting the character ichi, the building became known as Rozando, literally “Dew Mountain Palace.” On the pretext of tea ceremony, Takachika brought many people, regardless of social standing, to this one room, where they secretly discussed overthrowing the Shogunate, restoring Imperial rule, and other great deeds. After the abolition of hans, he was forced to move elsewhere. The building changed hands many times and began to fall into disrepair.
Shinagawa Yajiro, a close associate of Takachika who worked tirelessly to overthrow the Shogunate, knew about the state of this building and thought it was a shame to let a place with so much history fall into ruin. As a volunteer, he made plans, raised funds, and purchased this building, which was moved to its present location in April, in the 24th year of Meiji (1891). At this time, a park was also built in the area around the tea ceremony house. Afterwards, in the 38th and 48th year of Showa (1963 and 1973), construction was done to extend the area, giving the house its current look.
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