Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art Saigetsuan Tea Room

A Tea Room with Chair Seating

The Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art Saigetsuan Tea Room (アサヒビール大山崎山荘美術館彩月庵（茶室）) is a light sukiya-style tea room with chair seating that doubles as a private chapel of the early Showa period in Oyamazaki, Oyamazaki Town, Otokuni District, Kyoto Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on July 23, 2004 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 29 square metres; registration number 26-0177.

A Chair-Seated Tea Room

Oyamazaki Villa, on the slopes of Mount Tenno in Oyamazaki, Kyoto Prefecture, was the country house of the Kansai businessman Kaga Shotaro (1888-1954); 6 structures built from the Taisho to the early Showa period, among them the main house, a tea room, a teahouse, a garage, a lookout tower and a tunnel, are registered (Agency for Cultural Affairs; museum).

The Saigetsuan tea room, of the early Showa period, stands north-west of the main building near the boundary with Hoshakuji temple, gabled with a tiled roof (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It has a chair-seated tea room that doubles as a private chapel, an anteroom and a preparation room; the floor is of stone, and the main room has a 2-mat raised section, an alcove and a Buddhist altar.

The Agency describes its light, open sukiya style of rustic logs as plain yet elegant, with much to see inside.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered it as a model of design.

What to Look For

At Saigetsuan, look for the sukiya-style work in rustic logs and the stone-floored chair-seated tea room (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The main building, the Saigetsuan tea room and the Tochinoki teahouse are owned by Asahi Group Japan, Ltd., and the former garage, the Seikaro tower and the Rokando tunnel by Kyoto Prefecture (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to the Asahi Group Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art, it opens from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (last entry 4:30 p.m.) and is closed on Mondays (Tuesday if Monday is a holiday), on occasional days and over the New Year; it is about 10 minutes on foot from JR Yamazaki and Hankyu Oyamazaki stations. The 6 structures are introduced together on the Oyamazaki Villa page.