A Sukiya Tea Wing off the Main Building
Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room (福山市福寿会館西茶室, Fukuyama-shi Fukuju Kaikan Nishi-chashitsu) is a single-storey timber tea house completed in 1940 on the west side of the main building at Fukuju Hall in Marunouchi, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 23 February 2012.
A covered walkway links it to the main building. It covers 67 square metres under a hipped roof (Yosemune-zukuri) that combines pantiles with cypress bark. The national database gives only the early Showa period; the 1940 completion date comes from the city.
The builder was Usui Kaichiro (笛吹嘉一郎), a Kyoto carpenter the city calls a master of Sukiya-zukuri, who also built the south tea house on the same grounds. Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room was the first of the two.
Why It Was Registered
Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as an elegant sukiya building designed to sit in harmony with the main building.
Where the main building is dressed for receiving guests, this wing is built for tea, with rooms in three sizes and a roofline kept low to match its neighbour. A single covered walkway shows how the owner stepped from formal reception into the more intimate world of the Chashitsu.
What to Look For
Three rooms in three sizes
The centre is a 10-mat main room that looks toward the castle keep. To its west is a tea room of three mats plus a daime, a mat about three quarters of the usual length; to its north is a 2-mat room with a nakaita, a wooden board set between the host's mat and the guests'. Both devices fine-tune very small spaces. The city calls the three-and-daime room a design in the taste of the tea master Sen no Rikyu.
A boat-bottom ceiling in the preparation room
Each tea room has its own Mizuya, the back-of-house area for rinsing utensils and preparing. In Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room the mizuya ceiling is a funazoko, shaped like the inverted hull of a boat, a sign that care went into spaces guests were never meant to see.
Visiting
Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room is rented out in morning, afternoon and evening sessions. Whether you can look inside when it is free is up to the office on the day, so ask there, and check on photography at the same time.
From the garden paths it reads as a low roof continuing west from the main building.
Directions, opening hours and closing days for the estate as a whole are on the Fukuju Hall page.
Q&A
- When was Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room built, and by whom?
- According to Fukuyama City it was completed in 1940 by the Kyoto sukiya carpenter Usui Kaichiro. The national database gives the early Showa period.
- Can you see inside Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room?
- It is a rental room, so only when not booked; ask at the office in the main building on the day.
- What rooms does Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room have?
- A 10-mat main room, a three-and-daime tea room to the west and a 2-mat tea room with a nakaita to the north, each with its own mizuya.
- Is Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room connected to the main building?
- Yes, it stands on the west side of the main building, joined by a covered walkway.
- How large is Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room?
- It is a single-storey timber building with a building area of 67 square metres.
Basic Information
| Name | Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room (福山市福寿会館西茶室) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-1-1 Marunouchi, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and adjoining lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2012/2/23 (Heisei 24) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 67 square metres; single-storey timber |
| Owner | Fukuyama City |
| Public Access | Used as a rental room; may be viewable when not booked (ask at the office) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009218
- Cultural Heritage Online: Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall West Tea Room
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/201051
- Fukuyama City: Fukuju Kaikan Japanese-style wing (Japanese)
- https://www.city.fukuyama.hiroshima.jp/site/fukuju/16605.html
- Fukuyama City: Fukuju Kaikan room rental guide (Japanese)
- https://www.city.fukuyama.hiroshima.jp/site/fukuju/163124.html
- Fukuyama Castle Museum: Fukuju Kaikan (Japanese)
- https://fukuyamajo.jp/miru/fukujyu/
- Fukuyama Cultural Properties Navi (Fukuyama City): Fukuyama City Fukuju Hall and five other buildings
- https://fukubun.net/ja/collection/680
Last verified: 2026.09.26
