Registered Tangible Cultural Properties · Gunma

Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room

Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room: A Shoin-Style Meiji Tea House

A four-and-a-half-mat Meiji tea room in the northwest garden of the Fujiu estate in Kiryu, Gunma, with an alcove, shelves and an L-shaped open veranda. Private home.

Designation Registered Tangible Cultural Properties

Location Gunma

Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room: A Four-and-a-Half-Mat Room in the Garden

The Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room (藤生家住宅茶室, Fujiu-ke Jūtaku Chashitsu) is a single-story timber tea house of the early Meiji era standing northwest of the inner storehouse at the Fujiu family estate in Hirosawa-chō, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on May 15, 2007.

Its tea room is four and a half mats, the classic size for tea, and is fitted with a tokonoma alcove and shelves in the formal shoin manner. The roof is hipped and tiled, the walls are Shinkabe with posts left exposed, and the building area is 22 square meters. Among the working buildings of the Fujiu Family Residence, this is the one built purely for guests and for tea.

Why the Fujiu Tea Room Was Registered

The Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room was registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs singles it out as the principal element of the garden scenery in the northwest of the grounds.

The west well, which family tradition says supplied water for tea, stands close by, next to the garden pond. Tea room, well and pond together turn this corner of the estate into a small garden for hospitality, set apart from the storehouses and sheds of the working farm.

What to Notice

An open wooden veranda, the kind left uncovered to the weather, wraps around the south and west sides of the Fujiu Tea Room in an L, opening the two garden-facing walls and drawing the room toward the plantings. On the east side a lean-to with a sheet-metal roof forms a covered veranda, and a toilet projects to the north.

The walls stop at the intermediate coat of clay, with no fine finishing coat. That plain surface, set against a formal alcove-and-shelf interior, gives the tea room its restrained character.

Visiting the Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room

The Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room stands deep in the northwest garden and cannot really be seen from the road. Neither the tea room nor the garden is open, and as of September 2026 we found no announcements of tea gatherings or open days.

The estate is a family home, so please do not enter the grounds.

📍 Plan Your Visit to Gunma: Find tours, activities & transport passes near Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room; [ Kusatsu Onsen & Tomioka Silk Mill Heritage Tours ]

Q&A

QHow big is the Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room?: AThe tea room itself is four and a half mats. Including the verandas, lean-to and toilet, the building area is 22 square meters.

QWhat does shoin style mean for the Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room?: AIt means the room follows the formal reception-room pattern, with a tokonoma alcove and built-in shelves, rather than the rustic hut style of some tea houses.

QWhere is the Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room located on the estate?: AIt is northwest of the inner storehouse, in the garden at the northwest of the grounds, near the garden pond and the west well said to have been used for tea.

QWhen was the Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room built?: AIt dates to the early Meiji era and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on May 15, 2007.

QAre tea ceremonies held at the Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room?: AWe found no announcements of tea gatherings or public openings as of September 2026. The tea room and garden are part of a private home and are closed to the public.

Basic Information

Name	Fujiu Family Residence Tea Room
Location	5-1179 Hirosawacho, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture
Designation	Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building)
Year Designated	Registered May 15, 2007 (54th round, registration no. 10-0214)
Quantity	1 building
Dimensions	Building area 22 square meters; tea room of 4.5 mats
Owner	Private owner
Public Access	Not open to the public (private residence)