What nijiriguchi means
The nijiriguchi is the small guest entrance of a rustic tea room, also written with a single character. The opening is only about 70 centimetres high and wide, and guests enter bending low and shuffling in on their knees.
Passing through the small opening is explained as separating the outside world from the tea gathering and expressing the idea that all enter in the same posture regardless of rank. It is said to have become established with the rustic tea room in the time of Sen no Rikyu. Its position is one of the references for the plan of a tea room, with the Tokonoma often placed where it is seen first on entering.
Reading the records
Records give its position and its relation to the alcove and service entrance. The Sōan tea room at the Kubosō Memorial Museum of Arts in Izumi, Osaka, a small room of three mats plus a daime mat, has its alcove and service entrance facing the nijiriguchi. The detached wing of the former Suzuki family house in Matsuyama, Ehime, a sukiya-style building using many round timbers, has a six-mat tea room with an alcove and cupboard-fitted side alcove on the east and a nijiriguchi at the west end of the north wall. The detached wing of the Tondaya merchant house in Kyoto consists of reception rooms, a parlour and a tea room.
On site, look for a small square opening low in the outer wall of the tea room, closed by a board door.
References
- 旧鈴木家住宅離れ｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013893
- 和泉市久保惣記念美術館茶室惣庵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005999
- 冨田屋離れ｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001282
Last verified: 2026.09.27