The Crossroads Where the Vendetta Ended
Kazuma Chaya (数馬茶屋, the Kazuma Teahouse) is a single-storey timber rest house standing in the Kagiya-no-tsuji historic site park at Otacho, Iga City, Mie Prefecture, built in 1929 and entered on Japan's national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 3 December 2024. It faces east on the south side of the junction that gives the park its name.
That junction is where the Nara road and the Ise road part company. A stone signpost still stands there, cut with directions to Ise on the right and Nara on the left, dated to the Bunsei era in the 1820s. In the eleventh month of 1634 the crossing became the site of the Iga-goe vendetta, and the place has carried the story since.
Watanabe Kazuma, a retainer of the Okayama domain, was pursuing Kawai Matagoro (his surname also written 川合), who had killed Kazuma's younger brother Gendayu. Kazuma's brother-in-law was Araki Mataemon, a swordsman of considerable reputation, and Mataemon came with him. The two waited at a teahouse called Yorozuya near the crossroads for Matagoro's party to pass. The fight that followed was retold in puppet theatre, kabuki and kodan storytelling, and later in a long run of films; it is counted with the revenge of the Soga brothers and the raid of the Ako retainers as one of the three great vendettas of Japanese tradition. The crossroads itself was made a prefecturally designated historic site in April 1938.
The teahouse of 1634 is long gone. The building in the park is a recreation of it, and the name honours Kazuma.
A 1929 Building in the Sukiya Manner
The teahouse was put up in 1929 by the Iga-goe Revenge Historic Site Preservation Society. According to materials held by Iga City, the project was initiated by Tanaka Zensuke, then head of the town of Ueno, and the work was carried out by the master carpenter Morimoto Genkichi, who had also built the Haiseiden hall raised in honour of the poet Matsuo Basho. The society transferred the building to the old city of Ueno in 1945, and in 1961 it was moved to its present position in the park and repaired.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a single-storey timber structure with a tiled roof and a building footprint of 82 square metres. Newspaper accounts of the recent repairs give figures of about 78 square metres and city materials 83, differences that most likely reflect what is being measured rather than any dispute about the building; the national register is the authoritative figure.
The roof is irimoya-zukuri, hipped above and gabled below, and entered from the gable end, covered in pantiles, with eaves canopies returning at right angles along the north and east faces. Inside, a doma of packed earth occupies the front, with two rooms to the west of it, one floored in boards and one a tatami room with an alcove. The posts and ceiling members around the doma are old timbers, reused to give the interior an age it did not have when new.
The finish belongs to the sukiya tradition of the tea house rather than to ordinary commercial building. The ceiling is laid with split bamboo in the manner called sunoko. There are shitaji-mado, windows made by leaving a patch of wall unplastered so the bamboo lath beneath shows through, and muso-mado, sliding board screens that meter light and air as they are moved. Natural, barely worked timber serves for the alcove post and beams. The central pillar of the tatami room is said to have come from the family home of the wife of Kikumoto Naojiro, a president of Mitsui Bank, at Saijo in what is now Iga City.
Closed for Repair, and What Registration Made Possible
For most of the past three years the teahouse has been shut. A seismic assessment commissioned by the city in 2022 found a strong likelihood of collapse in a large earthquake, and the proprietor who had run the tea business under lease from the city was asked to vacate. Trading stopped in June 2023.
Registration followed in December 2024, under the criterion that the building contributes to the historic landscape of the nation, with registration number 24-0333. The status matters here in a practical way. Registration brought the building within reach of national subsidy, and the city began seismic strengthening and conservation work in July 2025. Total costs came to roughly 86 million yen including refurbishment of the adjacent public toilets, with about half met by a national grant. The work finished in mid-June 2026, and the city held an explanatory tour for local residents on 29 June, walking them through the reinforcement and the reasons the building was worth keeping.
The proprietor decided to continue and was preparing, in agreement with the city, to reopen from the middle of July 2026. Anyone planning a visit around a cup of tea should confirm the current position with Iga City or the local tourism association before travelling, since a reopening date announced in advance is not the same as one that has held.
The park itself is open ground and can be walked at any hour without charge. Alongside the teahouse stand the Bunsei signpost and a large monument to the vendetta; the Iga-goe Shiryokan, the small museum in the park that held documents connected with the affair, has been closed to visitors. Several dozen maples turn in the park in late autumn. Nishi-Ote Station on the Iga Railway is five or six minutes on foot, Uenoshi Station about fifteen, and Iga-Ueno Castle with the Ninja Museum sits between the two, which makes the crossroads an easy addition to a half-day in the old castle town.
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Q&A
- Is Kazuma Chaya in Iga City open, and can you get tea there?
- The teahouse was closed from June 2023 for seismic and conservation work, which finished in mid-June 2026. The proprietor was preparing to reopen from the middle of July 2026. Since plans can shift, check with Iga City or the local tourism association before making a special trip. The surrounding park is open at all times and free.
- When was Kazuma Chaya built, and when was it registered as a cultural property?
- It was built in 1929 by the Iga-goe Revenge Historic Site Preservation Society and moved to its present spot in the park in 1961. It was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property on 3 December 2024 under registration number 24-0333.
- Is Kazuma Chaya the actual teahouse from the 1634 vendetta?
- No. The teahouse where Watanabe Kazuma and Araki Mataemon are said to have waited was called Yorozuya and no longer exists. The present building is a 1929 recreation raised as a memorial, and it takes its name from Kazuma. Its value lies in that commemorative purpose and in its own architecture.
- How do you reach Kazuma Chaya and Kagiya-no-tsuji from the nearest station?
- Nishi-Ote Station on the Iga Railway is five to six minutes on foot and Uenoshi Station about fifteen. The park lies at the western edge of the old castle town, so it combines easily with Iga-Ueno Castle and the Ninja Museum. Car parks serving the castle area are within a ten-minute walk.
- What architectural features should visitors look for at Kazuma Chaya?
- The building shows sukiya tea-house detailing: a ceiling of split bamboo laid as sunoko, shitaji-mado windows that leave the bamboo lath exposed, and sliding muso-mado screens for light and air. The roof is irimoya entered from the gable end, and old timbers were reused around the earthen-floored front room.
Basic Information
| Name | Kazuma Chaya (数馬茶屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1336 and adjoining, Aza Shinmachi-ura, Otacho, Iga City, Mie Prefecture (Kagiya-no-tsuji historic site park) |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure); registration no. 24-0333 |
| Year Designated | Registered 3 December 2024 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber construction, tiled roof; building footprint 82 m² |
| Owner | Iga City |
| Public Access | Park open at all times without charge; teahouse closed from June 2023 for repairs completed June 2026, with reopening prepared for mid-July 2026 (confirm before visiting) |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Kazuma Chaya
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00015201
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kazuma Chaya
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/576245
- Kanko Mie (Mie Prefecture Tourism Association): Kagiya-no-tsuji Historic Site Park
- https://www.kankomie.or.jp/spot/3576
- Iga Town Information YOU: Kazuma Chaya recommended for national registration
- https://www.iga-younet.co.jp/2024/07/19/92986/
- Chunichi Shimbun: repair works completed at Kazuma Chaya, Iga City
- https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/1274341
- Mie Prefecture cultural property database: Kazuma Chaya
- https://www.bunka.pref.mie.lg.jp/Miebunka/detail?cls=cult_col01&pkey=0000001409
Last verified: 2026.08.10