Ryotei Nicho Large Tatami Hall

The Banquet Hall of Ryotei Nicho

The Ryotei Nicho Large Tatami Hall (料亭二蝶大座敷) is the banquet hall wing of a traditional ryotei restaurant of 1950 in Hyakken-machi, Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on March 2, 2006 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Ōzashiki, its Japanese name, means a large tatami room.

The Agency records a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 274 square metres; registration number 37-0288.

A 65.5-Mat Room with a Stage

The Ryotei Nicho Large Tatami Hall is the banquet wing south of the main house, its ridge running east to west (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Inside, a single tatami room of 65.5 mats measures 9.5 bays by 3.5 bays.

A stage closes the east end. At the west end is the formal alcove arrangement, including a raised floor of 2 mats in the manner of a Jōdan-no-ma (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The seat of honour and the stage for performers face each other down the length of the room.

The ceiling is coved and raised into a shallow boat-bottom vault, and the Agency notes elaborate work throughout. The architect was Tanigawa Masutaro of Tokyo.

Why It Was Registered

The Ryotei Nicho Large Tatami Hall was registered as a model of design (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency's record centres on the stage and raised alcove built into a room of 65.5 mats, and on the raised boat-bottom ceiling over it.

Its value lies in how fully it keeps, in a building of 1950, the kind of room where a ryotei hosted both a banquet and its entertainment.

What to Look For

Inside the Ryotei Nicho Large Tatami Hall, look up first: the raised, boat-shaped ceiling spans the whole length of the room (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Then compare the two ends, with the stage to the east and the 2-mat raised alcove to the west. The room reads differently depending on where you sit.

Visiting

The Ryotei Nicho Large Tatami Hall is a banquet room in a working restaurant, open only to guests with a reservation. No official information was found on visits for viewing only or on photography. Opening days, reservations and directions are covered on the Ryotei Nicho group page.