A Kyoto Doctor's Garden Tea House
The Meiji Village Tea Room Ekirakuan (明治村茶室亦楽庵, Meijimura Chashitsu Ekirakuan) is a Chashitsu of about 1877 standing in Museum Meiji-mura in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, and it was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2003. The single-story wooden structure covers just 28 square meters, roofed in tile with copper sheeting on parts of the edge. The plan measures two and a half Ken along the front by three ken across, a ken being roughly 1.8 meters.
Museum Meiji-mura credits the building to Fukui Kōsai (福井恒斎), a Kyoto physician who was also a scholar of the Chinese classics, and places it in the garden of his own house in Komatsubara-kitamachi in the Kita ward of the city. A man who read Confucian texts between patients built himself a four-and-a-half-mat room at the end of his garden, some time around 1877.
It came down in 1970 and went up again the following year at Meiji-mura, on the plot the museum numbers 3-chōme 28. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records the same dates: built around 1877, relocated in 1971. What had been a private corner of a Kyoto garden became a building on a public path through the woods of Aichi.
Why the Building Was Registered
Registration took effect on 1 December 2003 and was gazetted later that month, under registry number 23-0084, on the criterion that the building serves as a model of design. This is registration, not designation. It is the lighter of Japan's two systems for protecting historic buildings, and it does not carry the status of a National Treasure or an Important Cultural Property.
The official description reads the plan as a four-and-a-half-mat tea room said to follow Yūin, the room built by the tea master Sen Sōtan in Kyoto, with a tiled Doma earth floor, a Mizuya preparation space and a corridor attached. The roof is Kirizuma-zukuri gabled and laid with Sangawara-buki pantiles, with a small subsidiary gable over the front and copper sheeting along the eaves, the verge and the pent roof. That is a great deal of architecture inside 28 square meters.
A tea room is one of the few building types where a client's personal judgment survives in built form. What a Kyoto town doctor of the early Meiji era chose to copy, and where he departed from the model, is legible in the Meiji Village Tea Room Ekirakuan because the fabric is still there to read.
Opening Out Instead of Closing In
After Sen no Rikyū, Japanese tea rooms tended to grow smaller and more enclosed. Four walls, tightly sealed, and windows treated as sources of light rather than views. The aim was to conjure a large landscape inside a very small box. Museum Meiji-mura's own commentary sets Ekirakuan against that tradition and notes that it does the opposite.
One side of the four-and-a-half-mat room is fitted with sliding paper doors, and beyond them lies the tiled earth floor. Slide the doors back and Tatami, doma and garden become one continuous surface. Rather than sealing the room off, the design reaches out to the planting outside. That single decision is what separates this tea house from most of its contemporaries.
Stand at the gable end first. The relationship between the small gabled hood over the front and the opening beneath it explains the building's logic more clearly than any interior detail. The copper along the eaves and pent roof has weathered to a settled tone, and up close the difference in texture between metal and pantile is easy to see. Trace the position of the mizuya and the route from the corridor through to the earth floor, and the plan resolves itself.
Visiting
The Meiji Village Tea Room Ekirakuan stands in the third district of the museum grounds, and admission to Museum Meiji-mura covers it. Tickets are 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students, 700 yen for elementary and junior high school students, and free for preschool children. Opening hours shift with the season: 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from March through July and in September and October, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in August, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in November (until 5:00 p.m. on weekends and holidays), and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from December through February. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing.
Photography is permitted, though tripods may not be used inside buildings and visitors may not leave the paths to shoot in the woodland. Interior access varies from building to building, and the museum states that some structures and areas are closed off for safety or repair. Check the notices on the day. This is a small building in any case, and the way the doors slide and the earth floor sits can be read clearly from outside.
From Nagoya, take a Meitetsu train to Inuyama Station and a bus from the east exit, roughly 20 minutes to the Meiji-mura stop. Direct buses also run from the Meitetsu Bus Center and Sakae. Drivers come from the Komaki-higashi interchange on the Chūō Expressway, about 3 kilometers away, with parking at 1,000 yen per car. The third district is a fair walk from the main gate, so the village shuttle bus is worth using.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Aichi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Meiji Village Tea Room Ekirakuan
- [ Nagoya Castle & Atsuta Shrine History Tours ]
Q&A
- Can I visit the Meiji Village Tea Room Ekirakuan, and what does it cost?
- Yes. It is included in general admission to Museum Meiji-mura: 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students, 700 yen for elementary and junior high school students, and free for preschool children. Hours are generally 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from March through July and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from December through February.
- Who built the Meiji Village Tea Room Ekirakuan, and where did it originally stand?
- Museum Meiji-mura attributes it to Fukui Kōsai, a Kyoto physician and scholar of the Chinese classics, who is said to have built it in his own garden around 1877. The original site was Komatsubara-kitamachi in the Kita ward of Kyoto. The building was moved to Meiji-mura in 1971.
- What kind of tea room is the Meiji Village Tea Room Ekirakuan?
- A four-and-a-half-mat room with a tiled earth floor, a preparation space and a corridor attached, in a single-story timber structure of 28 square meters. The roof is gabled and tiled, with a small gable over the front and copper sheeting along the eaves, verge and pent roof. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes it is said to follow Yūin, the tea room of Sen Sōtan.
- Is the Meiji Village Tea Room Ekirakuan a National Treasure?
- No. It was entered on 1 December 2003 as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), registry number 23-0084, under the criterion that it serves as a model of design. Registration is a separate and lighter system from the designation that produces National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties.
- How do I reach the Meiji Village Tea Room Ekirakuan?
- Take a bus from the east exit of Meitetsu Inuyama Station to the Meiji-mura stop, about 20 minutes. Direct buses also run from the Meitetsu Bus Center and Sakae in Nagoya. By car it is about 3 kilometers from the Komaki-higashi interchange, with parking at 1,000 yen. The tea house stands in the third district of the museum grounds.
Basic Information
| Name | Meiji Village Tea Room Ekirakuan |
|---|---|
| Location | Museum Meiji-mura, 1 Uchiyama, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture (district 3, plot 28) |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2003 (Heisei 15) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-story timber structure, tiled roof with copper sheeting in part, floor area 28 square meters |
| Owner | Meiji Mura Public Interest Foundation |
| Public Access | Open with museum admission; interior access follows on-site notices |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Meiji Village Tea Room Ekirakuan
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003671
- Museum Meiji-mura: Tea Room Ekirakuan
- https://www.meijimura.com/sight/茶室「亦楽庵」/
- Museum Meiji-mura: Opening Hours and Closed Days
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/open/
- Museum Meiji-mura: Tickets and Prices
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/price/
- Museum Meiji-mura: Access
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/access/
Last verified: 2026.09.03