Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Tea Room (Suan)

The Suan Tea Room

The Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Tea Room (Suan) (白鶴美術館茶室（崧庵）) is a tea room of 1929 in Sumiyoshiyamate, Higashinada Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on November 18, 1999 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber building roofed in copper sheet and partly in tile, with a building area of 14 square metres; registration number 28-0060.

A Tea Room Moved from Rokko

The Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Tea Room (Suan) was a tea house in the Rokko area that was moved to this site in 1956 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It was built in 1929, five years before the museum opened.

The Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Tea Room (Suan) stands northwest of the office building, placed to look out over the courtyard between the main building and the office (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The name 崧庵 is read Sūan.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Tea Room (Suan) as a model of design, citing the light, refined look of its Irimoya-zukuri roof, tiled in the centre and edged all round with copper, and the quality of its workmanship.

What to Look For

The roof is the thing to look at on the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Tea Room (Suan). Only the centre of the hip-and-gable roof is tiled, and a band of Dōban-buki copper runs around it, so two materials meet on a single roof (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The building covers just 14 square metres; it rewards a close look at the finish.

Visiting

There is no official information on visiting the inside of the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Tea Room (Suan) or on its use for tea gatherings. It faces the courtyard, but the guidance does not say how far visitors may go into the courtyard, so ask on arrival. Opening dates and directions are on the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum page.