What is the Ryotei Masa New Wing?
The Ryotei Masa New Wing (料亭満佐新館棟, Ryōtei Masa Shinkantō) is a one-story timber banquet wing built in 1961 and joined by a corridor to the east side of the main house of the Ryotei Masa restaurant in Nakasu 1-chome, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on September 10, 2019.
It has a building area of 121 square meters. Added seven years after the main house and its companions went up in 1954, it is the newest of the five registered structures at Ryotei Masa. The roof is a Kirizuma-zukuri gable covered in Sangawara-buki pantiles, and the registration number is 40-0162.
A 12-mat room and its anteroom
According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Ryotei Masa New Wing has a 12-mat zashiki, or tatami reception room, and an adjoining anteroom on the south, with a small zashiki and a toilet on the north. The sunny south side is given to guests, and the support rooms and plumbing are gathered to the north.
Along the west wall of the main room are a fumikomi-doko, a Tokonoma and Tokowaki shelves. A fumikomi-doko is an alcove whose floorboard sits level with the tatami, with no raised front edge, so it looks lighter than a standard alcove. The main room and anteroom are divided by fusuma sliding panels with a Ranma transom above, and when opened the panels slide into pockets in the wall and vanish. With both rooms thrown together, nothing is left standing between them, and they work as a single large room.
The restaurant describes the room in the Ryotei Masa New Wing as enclosed by garden on two sides, and plainer and more modern than its other rooms. The small room to the north is kept for secretaries or security staff of guests using the wing.
A model of new sukiya in the Masa new wing
The Agency calls the Ryotei Masa New Wing a fine example of new sukiya, the modernized sukiya style, and points to two details: shoji with horizontal bars only, and a flat ceiling with recessed lights.
Shoji usually carry a close grid of vertical and horizontal bars. With the verticals removed, the horizontal lines take over and the room seems to stretch sideways toward the garden. The ceiling shows neither battens nor coffers, only a flat plane with the light fixtures set into it. Add the fusuma that disappear into the walls, and the new wing is a room from which every unnecessary line and object has been taken out. Seven years after the main house, the same new sukiya ideas appear here in a more thoroughgoing form.
Seeing the Ryotei Masa New Wing
The Ryotei Masa New Wing is a dining room of an operating restaurant and has no public opening days. Only guests who book the room can go in.
It stands toward the east of the grounds and cannot be seen from the street. Guests reach it along the corridor from the main house, so if you hope to dine in the new wing, ask whether you can request it when booking. There is no official guidance on photography.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Ryotei Masa New Wing
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Q&A
- When was the Ryotei Masa New Wing built and registered?
- It was built in 1961 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on September 10, 2019, under number 40-0162.
- What rooms are in the Ryotei Masa New Wing?
- A 12-mat tatami room and an anteroom on the south, and a small tatami room and a toilet on the north. The main room has an alcove and shelves along its west wall.
- What is special about the fusuma in the Ryotei Masa New Wing?
- The transom-topped fusuma between the main room and the anteroom slide into the walls, so the two rooms open into one with no panels in the way.
- Why is the Ryotei Masa New Wing called a fine example of new sukiya?
- For details such as shoji with horizontal bars only and a flat ceiling with recessed lighting, which the Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out.
- Can visitors see the Ryotei Masa New Wing?
- Not as sightseers. It is a dining room of an operating restaurant open only to booked guests, and it cannot be seen from the street.
Basic Information
| Name | Ryotei Masa New 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 121 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: 料亭満佐新館棟 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013006
- Cultural Heritage Online: 料亭満佐新館棟 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/458129
- 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
