Oda Urakusai's Teahouse
Joan (如庵, also written Jo-an) is a teahouse built around 1618 that now stands in Urakuen Garden in Inuyama Gomonsaki, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, and it was designated a National Treasure on June 9, 1951. It was built by Oda Urakusai, younger brother of the warlord Oda Nobunaga, within Shodenin, a subtemple of Kennin-ji in Kyoto. With Taian at Myokian in Yamazaki and Mittan at Ryokoin in Daitokuji, Joan is one of the three surviving teahouses that hold National Treasure status.
The designation came in two steps. Joan was first made a National Treasure under the old national treasures preservation law on April 20, 1936, and was designated again under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties in 1951.
The building combines the tea room with a three-mat preparation room (mizuya) and a corridor room. It is a single storey under a hip-and-gable roof of thin wooden shingles (kokera). The tea room measures two and a half mats plus a daime mat, a layout the Agency for Cultural Affairs calls an exemplary model of its type.
Why Joan Is a National Treasure
The Agency's detailed commentary rests on three points: the design inside and out is of the highest quality, the building is well preserved, and it is a model example of a tea room of two and a half mats plus a daime mat. Its shorter note adds that even the treatment beside the crawl-in entrance (nijiriguchi) shows bold invention.
Joan goes by two nicknames. Old calendars pasted along the lower walls give it the name Koyomi no Seki, the calendar room, and its unusual plan earned it Sujikai no Seki, the diagonal room, according to the Agency. The garden's official site explains the second name: a triangular board (urokoita) set beside the alcove creates a slanting wall, so the room is also called Sujikai no Kakoi.
Its travels are part of the story too. Urakusai made Shodenin his retirement home after the Summer Siege of Osaka. At the end of the Meiji era Joan passed to the Mitsui family together with its garden path and the neighbouring shoin and went to Tokyo, then moved to Kanagawa Prefecture in 1938 and to its present site in 1972. It came through all of this in good condition.
What to Look For
Start with the front. The official site describes how the shingled roof turns its gable end toward the visitor, with an earth-floored eave tucked in on the left under a plaque bearing the name Joan. Walking up from the garden, the triangle of the gable above the deep shadow of that eave gives this small building a crisp, deliberate outline.
Look for the crawl-in entrance as well. The Agency singles out the design beside it, and the official site lists its placement among Joan's original touches. It can be seen from outside, so peer in under the eave to find it.
Visitors on the special interior tours can see the rest at close range: the Uraku window, its bamboo slats set tightly side by side; the calendar pages pasted along the walls; and the slanting wall and central post (nakabashira). None of these can be seen from the garden, and most of the features the Agency and the official site single out are inside.
Visiting Joan
Joan can be viewed from the garden during Urakuen's opening hours. The Inuyama tourism association notes that, of the three National Treasure teahouses, Joan is the only one that can always be seen up close. The interior is normally closed.
The only way inside is the reserved Joan interior special viewing, held once a month according to Aichi Prefecture and the tourism association. It includes an explanation of Joan, a visit inside and a bowl of matcha in the Koan tea room, for ¥4,000 per person including garden admission and tea, with a limit of 20 people. A longer session that adds the painted sliding doors of the Former Shodenin Shoin costs ¥6,000. Applications go through the form on the official site, and the garden contacts applicants with a date. In August 2026 the official site announced that the August to November sessions were fully booked.
Photography and recording are not allowed inside the buildings. Participants sit on the tatami, and because Joan's tea room is so small, canes and other mobility aids cannot be used inside; anyone who needs assistance should come with a helper. Take care not to touch the walls or posts. Directions and opening hours for the garden are on the Urakuen Garden page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Aichi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Joan
- [ Nagoya Castle & Atsuta Shrine History Tours ]
Q&A
- Can you go inside the Joan teahouse?
- Not normally. The interior opens only during the reserved monthly Joan interior special viewing, which costs ¥4,000 per person including admission and tea and takes up to 20 people. A session that also shows the Former Shodenin Shoin's sliding-door paintings costs ¥6,000.
- When was Joan designated a National Treasure?
- On June 9, 1951. It had already been made a National Treasure under the earlier preservation law in 1936.
- Why is Joan called the calendar room and the diagonal room?
- Old calendars are pasted along its lower walls, giving the name Koyomi no Seki, and a triangular board beside the alcove creates a slanting wall, giving Sujikai no Seki or Sujikai no Kakoi.
- Why is Joan in Inuyama rather than Kyoto?
- Built around 1618 at Shodenin in Kennin-ji, Kyoto, it passed to the Mitsui family and moved to Tokyo at the end of the Meiji era, went to Kanagawa Prefecture in 1938, and was moved to Inuyama by Nagoya Railroad in 1972.
- Can I take photos inside Joan during the special viewing?
- No. Photography and recording are not allowed inside. Participants sit on the tatami, and mobility aids cannot be used in the small tea room, so anyone needing help should bring a helper.
Basic Information
| Name | Joan (如庵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1 Gomonsaki, Inuyama, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture (in Urakuen Garden) |
| Designation | National Treasure (Structure) |
| Year Designated | National Treasure 1951/6/9 (Showa 26); earlier National Treasure under the old law 1936/4/20 (Showa 11) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Tea room of two and a half mats plus a daime mat, three-mat preparation room and corridor room; single storey, hip-and-gable roof, wooden shingles |
| Owner | Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable during Urakuen opening hours; interior only on reserved special viewings (¥4,000 per person) |
References
- 如庵 (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/1240
- 如庵 (Cultural Heritage Online)
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/193900
- National Treasure teahouse Joan (Urakuen Garden official site)
- https://www.meitetsu.co.jp/urakuen/joan/index.html
- 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
- 日本庭園 有楽苑 (Aichi Now, Aichi Prefecture official tourism site)
- https://aichinow.pref.aichi.jp/spots/detail/179/
- 日本庭園 有楽苑 (Inuyama Tourism Association)
- https://inuyama.gr.jp/experience/detail/9/
Last verified: 2026.10.03
