What the Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room Is
The Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room (河合家住宅離れ座敷及び茶室, Kawai-ke Jūtaku Hanare Zashiki oyobi Chashitsu) is a reception wing and tea room built in 1921 in Kitayagicho, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 7 August 2009. It stands in the inner garden toward the east of the merchant estate and is listed as one building: the detached parlor with a tea room, a washroom and a living room attached.
The whole is timber, two storeys with a single-storey part, roofed partly in tile and partly in copper sheet, with a building area of 140 square metres. The parlor itself is 13 metres by 7.9 metres, two storeys, under a hipped-and-gabled Irimoya-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles.
The three attached rooms are arranged by compass point: a Chashitsu tea room to the north, a washroom to the west and a living room to the south. The tea room is ichijo daime, one full tatami for the guest and a three-quarter mat for the host, about as small as a tea room gets.
Why It Was Listed
The Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs commentary presents it as an example of the reception buildings merchants set in their inner gardens.
The main house, storehouses and Rojimon gate all date from the late or closing Edo period. This wing belongs to the Taisho era, and the Nagayamon gate and wall on the northern street followed in 1922. The trading front was left in its Edo form while a two-storey parlor and a tea room went up at the back, a sign of how much weight a merchant family of the modern era put on receiving guests.
Upstairs, two large rooms sit side by side with a veranda running round three sides. The commentary records the tradition that the Yamato Sanzan, the three hills of Unebi, Kagu and Miminashi that ring this part of the basin, could once be seen from here. The view was part of the hospitality.
What to Look For
The heart of the Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room is the upper floor. With the veranda wrapping three sides of the two rooms, sliding the screens open would have opened the view in three directions. The hipped-and-gabled roof lends the upper rooms a formal dignity.
The contrasts of scale are striking. At 13 metres the parlor is the second-largest building on the estate after the main house. The tea room attached to its north side is the smallest possible kind. Open reception rooms and a tiny tea room share one building.
Look too at the roofing. The main roof of the parlor is pantiled, while the listing records both tile and copper overall; the lighter copper most likely covers the single-storey attachments.
Visiting
The Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room stands in the inner garden toward the east of the estate. Neither the building nor the grounds are open (checked 26 September 2026), and the Nagayamon gate and wall screen it from the street.
Whether the upper roof shows above the Nagayamon gate from the northern street could not be confirmed. Even if it does, do not stand for long pointing a camera into the grounds.
Directions to the estate and the conditions for seeing it are set out on the Kawai Family Residence (Kitayagi) page.
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Q&A
- Can you visit the Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room?
- No. It stands in the inner garden of a private estate, and neither the building nor the grounds are open.
- When was the Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room built?
- In 1921. With the Nagayamon gate and wall of 1922, it is one of the estate's Taisho-era structures.
- How big is the tea room at the Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room?
- It is ichijo daime: one full tatami for the guest plus a three-quarter mat for the host, a very small tea room.
- Could you see the Yamato Sanzan from the Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a tradition that the three hills were once visible from the upper rooms. The present view could not be confirmed.
- How big is the Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room?
- The parlor is 13 metres by 7.9 metres over two storeys, and the whole building, attachments included, has a building area of 140 square metres.
Basic Information
| Name | Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room (河合家住宅離れ座敷及び茶室) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2-168-1 Kitayagicho, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), register no. 29-0137 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2009/8/7 (Heisei 21) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Parlor 13 metres by 7.9 metres. Building area 140 square metres. Timber, 2 storeys with single-storey part, hipped-and-gabled pantile roof, tile and copper roofing |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Closed. Not visible from the public road. |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Kawai Family Residence Detached Parlor and Tea Room (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007794
- Kawai Eiji Family Residence (Kashihara City Tourism Association)
- https://kashihara-kanko.or.jp/spot/detail.php?sid=S00095
Last verified: 2026.09.26
