A cluster of named tea rooms
On the east side of Shokoji, across a courtyard from the guest hall, stands a tiled building given over entirely to the tea. It is not a single tea room but a small complex, gathering several rooms with their own names under one hip-and-gable roof of pantiles.
The rooms are called Ryoryo-an, Suiko-ken and Choon-do, ranging from tea rooms to a wider sitting room, arranged around a water preparation area and an earthen-floored veranda. A waiting bench and a privy for guests are fitted into the northeast corner, completing the equipment a tea gathering requires.
A model of design in refined timber
The building was registered as a national tangible cultural property in 2011, under the criterion that recognises a structure serving as a model of design. That criterion is applied to work of unusual quality, and here it points to the care taken in the joinery and the choice of materials.
The Ryoryo-an room is a two-and-a-three-quarter-mat space, the compact format prized in tea. Its alcove post is a polished natural log, and the frame members include lengths of bamboo, small decisions that carry the whole aesthetic of the tea room. Taken together the rooms represent an accomplished piece of modern Japanese-style architecture from the Taisho years.
Tea culture at a country temple
That a provincial temple should hold a purpose-built tea complex of this quality is itself worth noting, and it fits Shokoji's long association with a poet whose art valued restraint and the seasons. The tea building sits within the everyday, working part of the temple rather than the memorial garden.
For that reason its interior is not routinely open. Visitors drawn to the tea can instead see the Sofu-an tea hut in the western memorial area, a thatched grass-hut room named after Chiyo-ni herself, which offers a plainer counterpart to the polished rooms here.
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Q&A
- Is this one tea room or several?
- It is a small complex of named rooms, including Ryoryo-an, Suiko-ken and Choon-do, together with a water area and guest facilities.
- When was it built and registered?
- It was built in 1918, in the Taisho era, and registered as a national cultural property in 2011.
- What makes the Ryoryo-an room notable?
- It is a compact two-and-three-quarter-mat tea room with a polished natural-log alcove post and bamboo frame members, hallmarks of refined tea design.
- Can I visit the interior?
- The tea building is in the working part of the temple and is not routinely open; the Sofu-an tea hut in the memorial area can be seen instead.
- Why does a temple have such a tea house?
- Shokoji is tied to the poet Chiyo-ni, whose art prized quiet and the seasons, and tea culture sits naturally alongside that heritage.
Basic Information
| Name | Shokoji Tea House (Chashitsu) |
|---|---|
| Location | Hakusan City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan |
| Classification | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (national register) |
| Registration date | January 26, 2011 |
| Registration no. | 17-0212 |
| Registration criterion | Serving as a model of design |
| Era | 1918 (Taisho 7) |
| Structure | Single-storey timber structure, tiled roof, floor area 127 m² |
| Count | 1 building |
| Owner | Religious corporation Shokoji |
| Public access | Active temple; interior not routinely open. The Chiyo-ni Hall, Sofu-an tea hut and relic hall (small fee) are open to visitors. |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00008441
- Kaga no Chiyojo | Hakusan City
- https://www.city.hakusan.lg.jp/bunka/bunkashinko/1002773/1002775/index.html
- Shokoji | Urara Hakusanbito Tourism
- https://www.urara-hakusanbito.com/spot/detail_1100.html
- Shokoji Official Site
- https://shokoji.jp/
Last verified: 2026.07.11