Hisada Family Hanshoan

Hisada Family Hanshoan: A Tea Master's House in Central Kyoto

The Hisada Family Hanshoan (久田家半床庵) is the Kyoto home of the Hisada family, hereditary tea masters of the Omotesenke school, on Takakura-dori south of Nijo in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto City; its tea house and the waiting bench of its tea garden, both built in 1886, were entered on the national register as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2013.

Hanshoan is the name of the tea room inside the house, and it has come to stand for the household itself. The two registered buildings are the Hisada Family Hanshoan Tea House, which contains a larger reception room and the small tea room called Hanshoan, and the Hisada Family Hanshoan Koshikake, a waiting bench set diagonally across the tea garden. Both were registered on 24 December 2013 and belong to the Hanshoan Cultural Foundation.

The Hisada Family and Hanshoan

According to the Hanshoan Cultural Foundation, the Hisada family traces its line to Hisada Soei (1557 to 1624), who was active in the time of Sen no Rikyu, and has kept close ties with the Omotesenke house ever since. The third head, Sozen, modelled a small tea room with a board inset beside the host's mat on Fushin'an, the Omotesenke tea room, and named it Hanshoan. He also left many favoured utensils and is regarded as the restorer of the family's fortunes.

Hanshoan was lost in the fires that followed the Hamaguri Gate Rebellion at the end of the Edo period. The foundation says that it was later rebuilt by Genjosai, a later head of the family. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates both the present tea house and the waiting bench to 1886.

The foundation was set up in July 2012 to preserve and open the tea rooms and garden and to care for the utensils handed down at Hanshoan.

Visiting

The Hisada Family Hanshoan is in Kawaramachi, Takakura-dori Nijo-sagaru, Nakagyo Ward, about 400 metres northeast of Karasuma Oike Station on the Kyoto Municipal Subway, measured on the map.

The tea rooms and garden are not open on a regular basis. The foundation accepts advance reservations for tours of the tea house and garden on a limited number of dates with limited places, to protect the garden and because the rooms are used for tea gatherings. A past tour cost 3,000 yen per person. To arrange a visit, contact the foundation (075-256-3150).

The house stands in a residential area, and the grounds cannot be entered outside tour dates. Please be considerate of the neighbours if you look at it from the street.