What is the Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing?
The Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing (料亭満佐厨房棟, Ryōtei Masa Chūbōtō) is a two-story timber building attached to the back of the main house of the Ryotei Masa restaurant in Nakasu 1-chome, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, built in 1954 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on September 10, 2019.
It has a building area of 140 square meters and houses the kitchen and the front office, the working back of the restaurant. Its registration number is 40-0161, and it went up in the same year as the main house.
Inside the Masa kitchen wing
According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, a corridor runs through the ground floor of the Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing, with the kitchen and the chōba, the office where accounts and bookings were kept, on its north side and living rooms on the south. Upstairs there is a reception room among other rooms. Food goes from the kitchen to the guest rooms of the main house, and the business of the ryotei is run from the chōba; the living rooms to the south were presumably used by the household and staff.
The roof mixes three forms, Kirizuma-zukuri gabled, Yosemune-zukuri hipped and Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable, all under Sangawara-buki pantiles. The wing leans against the back of the main house and gathers rooms of very different uses, so its roof changes shape from part to part.
Techniques in the Yoshida Isoya manner
A service wing earned registration because of how its living rooms and reception room are finished. Here the Agency wrote that techniques in the manner of Yoshida Isoya can be seen. Of the five Agency descriptions for Ryotei Masa, only the one for the Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing names the architect who devised new sukiya.
Three techniques are listed. The walls of the living rooms and reception room are Ōkabe, with the posts hidden, and the Agency's recommendation report adds that the reception room walls are covered in fabric. The fittings use horizontal bars only, which drops the vertical members and stretches the look of each screen sideways. The ceiling is laid with thin Saobuchi-tenjō battens grouped in the fukiyose way, set close together and then spaced out, with light fixtures recessed between them. The lights sit within the plane of the ceiling instead of hanging from it.
The sources disagree on the registration criterion. The Agency's database lists the Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing as a model of design, while the table in the March 2019 recommendation report gives it the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape. This page follows the database.
Seeing the Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing
The Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing still works as the kitchen and office of an operating restaurant. It is not a space for guests, and it has no public opening days.
It sits behind the main house and cannot be seen from the street. Public sources do not say whether the upstairs reception room is ever used to receive guests. If you dine at Ryotei Masa, ask the staff before looking into or photographing any back-of-house room.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing
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Q&A
- When was the Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing built and registered?
- It was built in 1954 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on September 10, 2019, under number 40-0161.
- What is inside the Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing?
- The kitchen and the front office lie north of a ground-floor corridor, living rooms lie south of it, and there is a reception room upstairs.
- What are the Yoshida Isoya techniques in the Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing?
- Okabe walls in the living rooms and reception room, fittings with horizontal bars only, and a ceiling of thin battens grouped in the fukiyose way with recessed lights.
- Can visitors see the Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing?
- No. It is the working kitchen and office of the restaurant, and it is hidden behind the main house, out of sight of the street.
- Under which criterion was the Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing registered?
- The Agency's database says it is a model of design, but the 2019 recommendation report lists the landscape criterion instead, so the sources differ.
Basic Information
| Name | Ryotei Masa Kitchen Wing |
|---|---|
| Location | 103 and others, Nakasu 1-chome, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered September 10, 2019 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 140 square meters |
| Owner | Not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Public Access | Operating ryotei restaurant (reservations only; first-time guests need an introduction); no general public opening |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: 料亭満佐厨房棟 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013005
- Cultural Heritage Online: 料亭満佐厨房棟 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/402898
- Appendix to the March 2019 registration report (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/koho_hodo_oshirase/hodohappyo/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2019/03/15/a1414399_03.pdf
Last verified: 2026.10.04
