Ryotei Kinnabe

Ryotei Kinnabe

Ryotei Kinnabe (料亭金鍋), a long-established ryotei, or traditional Japanese restaurant, in Honmachi, Wakamatsu Ward, Kitakyushu, keeps a main building and front gate of about 1917, both registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on July 23, 2004 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

According to Kitakyushu City, Kinnabe was founded in 1895; after its first building was damaged, the present buildings were rebuilt between the end of the Meiji era and the start of the Taisho era. The city sees them as a record of Wakamatsu's prosperity at that time and a valuable part of a disappearing historic townscape.

The Two Buildings

The main building is a three-storey timber ryotei, long and narrow from north to south, with rooms on both sides of a central corridor and a 30-mat banquet hall with an alcove and shelves on the first floor up (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Fine timber, a refined sukiya style with Western touches and a heavy black-plastered exterior give it a strong presence in the street.

The front gate stands on the north edge of the site and, with walls running off to either side, encloses the court before the entrance (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Logs form its brackets, eave beam and rafters, and a glazed transom gives it a modern sukiya air. Each building is described on its own page.

Visiting

According to Kitakyushu City, Kinnabe is still used as a ryotei. No official information on visits was found.