Oda Urakusai's Retirement Residence
The Former Shodenin Shoin (旧正伝院書院, Kyū Shōden-in Shoin) is a shoin-style residence built around 1618 that now stands in Urakuen Garden in Inuyama Gomonsaki, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, and it was designated an Important Cultural Property on September 5, 1944. It was the retirement home of Oda Urakusai, younger brother of the warlord Oda Nobunaga, at Shodenin, a subtemple of Kennin-ji in Kyoto, and was built adjoining his teahouse, Joan.
According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the building consists of a seven-mat room with an alcove, four six-mat rooms and the veranda that runs around them. It is a single storey under a hip-and-gable roof now covered in copper sheet. The garden's official site describes its exterior as gentle and unassuming.
When Joan passed to the Mitsui family at the end of the Meiji era and was taken to Tokyo, the shoin went with it, together with the tea garden path, according to the Agency. Today the Former Shodenin Shoin again stands close to Joan, inside Urakuen.
Why the Former Shodenin Shoin Matters
The Former Shodenin Shoin was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1944. Part of its value lies in how it was arranged as a tea man's home. The official site notes that the main room on the south side is laid out so that it could equally serve as a tea room. In the house where Urakusai spent his last years, the principal reception room was also fit for tea, which is exactly what one would expect of a residence run in step with a teahouse next door.
The other part is on the sliding doors. The official site and the Inuyama tourism association both note that paintings by Hasegawa Tohaku, Kano Sansetsu and others survive inside and are important material for art history. Work by painters active from the Momoyama period into the early Edo period has come down here as the fittings of a lived-in house.
That the teahouse and the residence both survive from Shodenin around 1618, and can still be seen side by side after all their moves, adds considerably to what a visit to the shoin can tell you.
What to Look For
Seen from the garden, the hip-and-gable roof of the Former Shodenin Shoin spreads low and calm, with the veranda wrapping around the rooms. Where Joan is tiny, the shoin is broad, a chain of a seven-mat room and four six-mat rooms, and its domestic character is plain from outside.
Look for the main room on the south side, the one the official site calls fit for tea. Seen together with the veranda facing the garden, it is easy to picture a retirement parlour that doubled as a place to receive guests. The Inuyama tourism association recommends sitting on this veranda in autumn to watch the maples.
The painted sliding doors are shown only during special viewings. The official site also reports that Hasegawa Tohaku's Shiai-zu fusuma (Four Loves), owned by Urakuen, is on loan to the Hasegawa Tohaku exhibition at the Ishikawa Nanao Art Museum from September 19 to October 18, 2026.
Visiting the Former Shodenin Shoin
The interior of the Former Shodenin Shoin is normally closed, according to the Inuyama tourism association. The exterior can be seen from the garden during Urakuen's opening hours, and the association suggests sitting on its veranda during the autumn foliage season.
The way to see the interior and the paintings is the reserved Joan interior and Former Shodenin Shoin sliding-door paintings special viewing, which adds a special showing of works by Hasegawa Tohaku, Kano Sansetsu and others to an explanation and interior visit of Joan. It costs ¥6,000 per person including garden admission and tea. Dates are listed in a schedule on the official site, and applications go through its online form.
Photography and recording are not permitted inside the buildings, and participants sit on the tatami. Visitors are asked not to touch walls, posts or sliding doors, and to take care that clothing and bags do not brush against them. Directions and opening hours are on the Urakuen Garden page.
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Q&A
- Is the Former Shodenin Shoin the same as the Joan teahouse?
- No. Joan is the teahouse, designated separately; the Former Shodenin Shoin is Oda Urakusai's retirement residence and an Important Cultural Property. Both were built around 1618 at Shodenin in Kennin-ji, Kyoto, and both now stand in Urakuen in Inuyama.
- Can I see the sliding-door paintings in the Former Shodenin Shoin?
- Not normally. They are shown during the reserved special viewing that combines Joan's interior with the shoin's paintings by Hasegawa Tohaku, Kano Sansetsu and others, for ¥6,000 per person including admission and tea.
- When was the Former Shodenin Shoin designated an Important Cultural Property?
- On September 5, 1944.
- What is the layout of the Former Shodenin Shoin?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a seven-mat room with an alcove, four six-mat rooms and a surrounding veranda, in a single storey under a copper-covered hip-and-gable roof. The main room on the south side was arranged so it could serve for tea.
- Can I take photos during the Former Shodenin Shoin special viewing?
- Photography and recording are not allowed inside the buildings. For photographs of the exterior from the garden, follow the guidance on site.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Shodenin Shoin (旧正伝院書院) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1 Gomonsaki, Inuyama, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture (in Urakuen Garden) |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Designated 1944/9/5 (Showa 19) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Seven-mat room with alcove, four six-mat rooms and veranda; single storey, hip-and-gable roof, copper sheet roofing |
| Owner | Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable during Urakuen opening hours; interior and paintings only on reserved special viewings (¥6,000) |
References
- 旧正伝院書院 (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/1241
- 如庵 (Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/1240
- 旧正伝院書院 (Cultural Heritage Online)
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/146441
- About Urakuen (Urakuen Garden official site)
- https://www.meitetsu.co.jp/urakuen/guide/index.html
- Joan interior special viewing (Urakuen Garden official site)
- https://www.meitetsu.co.jp/urakuen/kengaku/index.html
- Notice on the Shiai-zu fusuma loan (Urakuen Garden official site)
- https://www.meitetsu.co.jp/urakuen/news/1289037_9521.html
- 日本庭園 有楽苑 (Inuyama Tourism Association)
- https://inuyama.gr.jp/experience/detail/9/
Last verified: 2026.10.03
