A 1929 Annexe Above the Mitaki River
Ryokan Kotobukitei Suiunkaku (旅館寿亭水雲閣, also written Ryokan Kotobukitei Suiun-kaku, the Suiunkaku annexe of the Kotobukitei inn) stands above the south bank of the Mitaki River at Yunoyama Onsen in Komono Town, Mie Prefecture, was built in 1929, and was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2008.
The inn behind it is older than the annexe by half a century. Kotobukitei was founded in 1874 by Seko Kinjuro and his wife Kiku. Some years later a Nagoya couple, Kuzuya Harutaro and his wife Hisako, came to Yunoyama to take the waters, struck up a friendship with Kiku, and were judged by her to be the right people to succeed her. The Kuzuya family's own reckoning of the founding dates from 1911. Under them the inn was rebuilt as a serious high-end establishment, and annexes went up one after another, each in Japanese style and each sited to sit inside the surrounding landscape rather than on top of it.
Suiunkaku came in 1929, near the end of that building campaign. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a two-storey timber structure, roofed in copper sheet, with a floor area of 131 square metres, running on a north-south axis, seven bays along and four and a half across.
Copper on the Roof, Ogee Windows Inside
Yunoyama sits at the foot of Mount Gozaisho in the Suzuka range, and winters here are cold. Komono Town's account of the building explains the copper roof in exactly those terms: sheet copper was chosen over tile to avoid frost damage, then worked to read as a tiled roof from a distance. The result looks conventional and is not. Beneath it the roof takes the irimoya form, hipped below and gabled above, the standard profile of formal Japanese building.
Both floors share a plan: a principal room of ten tatami mats and an anteroom of eight. An irikawa, a wide circulating aisle, wraps the north, west and south sides, and on the north and west faces this opens onto a nure-en, an uncovered veranda with a koran balustrade along its edge. The registration commentary notes that good timber was used in the principal rooms and that the design carries a certain dignity, which in the compressed language of the database counts as praise.
The carpenter was Shiroyama Kinosuke, working as master builder. Three details of his work are usually singled out. The katomado, a window whose head is cut into an ogee curve of the kind developed in Zen temple architecture, was made to the same dimensions as the ones at Ishiyamadera in Shiga Prefecture. The beams were cut from trees more than a century old. And the window glazing is sheet glass made by the Colburn process, a drawn-glass method now very rarely encountered in surviving buildings, softer and more yielding than modern float glass and visibly less flat.
Registration came on 7 March 2008, with the gazette notice on 19 March, under registration number 24-0069, cited against the criterion covering buildings that set a standard in design. The inn's own literature and several tourism pages give 7 December 2007 instead; that earlier date corresponds to the recommendation stage of the process rather than to registration itself.
Poets, a Novelist, and How to See It
Above the entrance hangs a plaque reading Suiunkaku, brushed by Ban Masaomi, a court poet born in Nagoya in 1855 who also went by the name Kayata Rojin. Ban had a direct connection to the building. In 1930, at the unveiling of a monument to Suzuki Kobune, a Komono-born woman who had stayed at the inn before becoming a court poet herself, he composed a verse about the view from the newly completed Suiunkaku rooms.
That view is the reason the building sits where it does. The large windows face Mount Gozaisho, and the inn records that literary figures and members of the imperial household stayed in these rooms. A related piece of literary history belongs to a different annexe: Shiga Naoya, one of the major Japanese novelists of the twentieth century, stayed at Shosenkaku, built in 1915, during 1933 and wrote the short story Komono there.
Now the practical part, and it needs stating clearly. Suiunkaku is no longer let as guest accommodation. The inn withdrew it from use to protect the fabric. What the inn does offer is a look at it: staff will show the building to guests who ask. This means the realistic way to see the interior is to stay at Kotobukitei, or to come for one of its day-use options, and then request a viewing. Ask at the time of booking rather than on arrival. Kotobukitei can be reached on 059-392-2131.
The inn runs day-use bathing and private reserved baths as well as overnight stays, so a visit does not require a night's accommodation. Rates and hours change, so confirm on the official site before travelling.
Getting to Yunoyama: Kintetsu's Yunoyama Line terminates at Yunoyama Onsen Station, about eight minutes from the inn by car, and Kotobukitei offers a free pick-up if arranged in advance. By bus, alight at Sanko Yunoyama Onsen and walk about ten minutes. Drivers leave the Higashi-Meihan Expressway at Yokkaichi IC, around twenty minutes away. The Gozaisho Ropeway is close by and worth building into the same day, weather permitting.
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Q&A
- Can I stay overnight in Ryokan Kotobukitei Suiunkaku?
- No. Suiunkaku was withdrawn from guest use to protect the building. Kotobukitei accommodates guests in its other buildings, and staff will show Suiunkaku to those who ask. Request a viewing when booking rather than on the day. The inn's number is 059-392-2131.
- Can I see Ryokan Kotobukitei Suiunkaku without staying the night?
- Possibly. Kotobukitei operates day-use bathing and private reserved baths in addition to overnight stays, so a day visit is an option, but Suiunkaku is a working inn's private building rather than a public monument and viewing is at the inn's discretion. Contact them in advance to ask.
- Why does Ryokan Kotobukitei Suiunkaku have a copper roof instead of tiles?
- Because of the cold at Yunoyama. Komono Town's account states that copper sheet was used in place of tile to avoid frost damage, and that it was finished to resemble a tiled roof. The roof form beneath is irimoya, hipped-and-gabled.
- When was Ryokan Kotobukitei Suiunkaku registered as a cultural property?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs records registration on 7 March 2008 and gazetting on 19 March 2008, registration number 24-0069. Some tourism sources give 7 December 2007, which reflects the earlier recommendation stage of the process.
- How do I reach Ryokan Kotobukitei Suiunkaku from Nagoya or Yokkaichi?
- Take the Kintetsu Yunoyama Line to Yunoyama Onsen Station, about eight minutes from the inn by car, with a free pick-up available if arranged in advance. By bus, get off at Sanko Yunoyama Onsen and walk roughly ten minutes. By car it is about twenty minutes from Yokkaichi IC on the Higashi-Meihan Expressway.
Basic Information
| Name | Ryokan Kotobukitei Suiunkaku (旅館寿亭水雲閣) |
|---|---|
| Location | 8588 Oaza-Komono, Komono Town, Mie District, Mie Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 24-0069; criterion: a model of design |
| Year Designated | Registered 7 March 2008 (gazetted 19 March 2008) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, two storeys, copper sheet roof; floor area 131 m². Seven bays by four and a half. Built 1929 |
| Owner | Ryokan Kotobukitei Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Not let as guest accommodation. Viewing possible on request to the inn. Kotobukitei also offers day-use bathing. Tel. 059-392-2131 |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Ryokan Kotobukitei Suiunkaku
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00006863
- Komono Town: Cultural Properties, Registered Property Ryokan Kotobukitei Suiunkaku
- https://www2.town.komono.mie.jp/site/kankou/1555.html
- Ryokan Kotobukitei official site: Facilities and Rooms
- https://www.kotobukitei.co.jp/room.html
- Komono Town Tourism Association: Ryokan Kotobukitei
- https://www.kanko-komono.com/spots/294/
Last verified: 2026.08.11