A Meiji teahouse moved to a corner of the garden
The Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian (伊藤家住宅茶席水鶏庵, Itō-ke Jūtaku Chaseki Kuinaan) is a Chashitsu tea house of 1868 at 4-85 Tachibanacho, Tsushima, Aichi Prefecture, entered on the national register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Structures) on 28 April 2009. It is a single-storey timber building with a Yosemune-zukuri hipped roof in sheet copper, covering 24 square metres.
It was not built where it stands. According to the Tsushima City heritage record, Suikeian was raised inside the estate of the Sano family, landowners at Matsuna in what is now Yatomi, by a tea master named Yoshida Shōwa. In 1948 it was taken down and moved to the Ito family garden in Tsushima. A building 5.9 metres along the ridge and 5.0 metres across had, after eighty years, to learn a second site.
Today the Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian sits in the southwest corner of the garden, among trees. The plan is a four-and-a-half-mat tea room with a Tokonoma alcove and an adjoining anteroom; the Tsushima City record adds a Mizuya preparation area.
A note on names for anyone searching. Several cultural properties in Aichi Prefecture are called Ito Family Residence, including a registered townhouse in Inuyama and a prefecturally designated house in Nagono, Nagoya. They belong to different families. This article concerns the Tsushima property in Tachibanacho.
The move was not simply a move
Dismantling a timber building and reassembling it elsewhere is ordinary practice in Japan. What happened to the Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian went further than transport.
Tsushima City records that an artificial hill was raised in the southwest of the garden for the purpose, with a stone platform built on top of it, and the tea house set there. The explanation given is that this was an attempt to reproduce the setting the building had enjoyed in the Sano garden.
A tea house only works in relation to its garden. Where it is seen from, how high the guest sits, which trees enter the view: change those and the same timber frame becomes a different building. Whoever organised this move understood that carrying the structure alone would deliver half of it. That is why they rebuilt the ground first.
The name travelled too. Tsushima City traces it to a verse by Matsuo Bashō written during a night's stay at Saya, in present-day Aisai, in which the call of the kuina, a water rail of the marshes, appears. The teahouse therefore carries a piece of the lower Kiso river delta with it, which is the country it was moved across.
Why it is on the register, and what the open plan does
The Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian was registered under the criterion for buildings that serve as a model of design, together with the waiting arbour in the same garden, on 28 April 2009. Its register number is 23-0315 and the gazette notice followed on 14 May. Many registrations rest on a building's contribution to a townscape; this one rests on the design itself.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a modern tea house built openly, with the view of the garden in mind. Rather than sealing guests into a small dim room, it turns outward. The verandas carry that intention. The Agency record has a wide Kure-en and a Kirime-en with a Kōran balustrade running along the northeast face of the tea room, under a projecting eave. Tsushima City describes wide corridors on the two garden-facing sides with an open veranda and an assembled balustrade beyond them, so the two accounts differ on how many faces are involved.
The two veranda types are worth separating. A kure-en has its floorboards laid parallel to the wall of the building; a kirime-en has them laid at right angles to it. Changing the direction of the boards changes both the feel underfoot and the lines the eye follows. Outside those runs the balustrade, and over the whole comes the eave. Getting from the mat floor to the garden is a sequence of stages rather than a step through a door.
One roof detail is recorded by the city: Chigi finials set on the ridge cap. Chigi belong properly to shrine roofs, and finding them on a tea house is not common.
Visiting
The Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian stands in the garden of a private house. Neither the Agency for Cultural Affairs database nor the Tsushima City heritage page records any public opening, and it should be treated as closed. No opening days, booking arrangement or admission charge could be found.
Its position in the southwest corner among trees also means it cannot readily be seen from a public road, and the grounds may not be entered. Occasional access through a special opening or a tea gathering is not impossible, so anyone planning a trip should ask Tsushima City Hall first on 0567-24-1111. The city keeps its heritage information in a digital archive called the History and Cultural Heritage of Tsushima.
Photography is likewise not possible without the owner's permission, since the building lies inside a private garden.
The site is about one kilometre southwest of Tsushima Station on the Meitetsu Tsushima and Bisai lines, roughly fifteen minutes on foot, at 4-85 Tachibanacho. The Ito Family Residence Waiting Arbour stands in the same garden, less than 15 metres away.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Aichi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian
- [ Nagoya Castle & Atsuta Shrine History Tours ]
Q&A
- Can you visit the Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian, and is there an admission charge?
- It sits in the garden of a private house and should be treated as closed. No opening days or admission charge are recorded by either the Agency for Cultural Affairs or Tsushima City. Anyone considering a visit should contact Tsushima City Hall on 0567-24-1111 in advance.
- When and where was the Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian originally built?
- It was built in 1868 inside the estate of the Sano family, landowners at Matsuna in present-day Yatomi, and is credited to a tea master named Yoshida Shōwa. It was moved to the Ito family garden in Tachibanacho, Tsushima, in 1948.
- Where does the name Suikeian come from?
- Tsushima City traces it to a verse by Matsuo Bashō composed during a stay at Saya, now part of Aisai, in which the call of the kuina, a marsh water rail, appears. The tea house is said to take its name from that bird.
- How big is the Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian and how is it built?
- It is a single-storey timber building with a hipped roof in sheet copper, covering 24 square metres and measuring 5.9 metres along the ridge by 5.0 metres. Inside is a four-and-a-half-mat tea room with an alcove, an adjoining anteroom, and a preparation area recorded by the city.
- Is the Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian an Important Cultural Property?
- No. It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), added to the register on 28 April 2009 under the criterion for buildings serving as a model of design. Important Cultural Properties are designated by the state, while the register is a separate and lighter system.
Basic Information
| Name | Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian (伊藤家住宅茶席水鶏庵, Itō-ke Jūtaku Chaseki Kuinaan) |
|---|---|
| Location | 4-85 Tachibanacho, Tsushima, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), register number 23-0315 |
| Year Designated | Registered 28 April 2009 (gazetted 14 May 2009) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 5.9 metres along the ridge, 5.0 metres across; floor area 24 square metres |
| Owner | No owner name recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database; stands in the garden of a privately owned house |
| Public Access | Not open. No opening days or admission charge could be confirmed |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database ― Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00007637
- History and Cultural Heritage of Tsushima ― Ito Family Residence Teahouse Suikeian
- https://www.tsushima-bunka.jp/map/kenzoubutu/map000275.html
- History and Cultural Heritage of Tsushima ― Ito Family Residence Waiting Arbour
- https://www.tsushima-bunka.jp/map/kenzoubutu/map000278.html
- Tsushima City ― Cultural properties
- https://www.city.tsushima.lg.jp/kosodate/manabu/bunkazai/index.html
Last verified: 2026.08.29