A Tea Room Tucked Against a Storehouse
The Tatsumi Family Residence Tea Room (辰巳家住宅茶室, Tatsumi-ke Jūtaku Chashitsu) is a single-story timber Chashitsu built in 1915 in Hōryūji-nishi, Ikaruga Town, Nara Prefecture, and registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property on April 24, 2001. It stands south of the main house of the Tatsumi estate, joined on its east side to the Third Storehouse, and reached from the main house by a covered corridor.
With a building area of 30 square meters, it is one of the smaller structures on the property. Its value lies in where it sits: in the private southern quarter of the house, a few roofed steps from the family's living rooms.
Layout and a Surprisingly Heavy Exterior
The core is a four-and-a-half-mat tea room with a tokonoma alcove. To the east is a three-mat Mizuya, the preparation room where utensils are washed and arranged, and a veranda runs along the north side of both. It is a textbook arrangement for a room devoted to tea.
The outside is less textbook. Tea rooms are often imagined as light, rustic huts. The Tatsumi Family Residence Tea Room instead carries a tiled hip-and-gable (Irimoya-zukuri) roof, its west gable is sealed in lime plaster, and the verge tiles are ornamented. The official description calls the exterior weighty. Next to the clay walls of the Third Storehouse, that plastered gable looks as if it belongs to the same family of buildings.
Why It Was Registered
The tea room was registered, as number 29-0047, under the criterion for contributing to the historic landscape. On the Tatsumi estate that criterion was applied to four entries: the tea room, the barn, the charcoal shed and the perimeter wall.
The Tatsumi Family Residence Tea Room does not face a street. Its contribution is to the inward-looking cluster south of the main house, which the official description of the corridor also names as a group: corridor, Third Storehouse and tea room together.
Visiting
The Tatsumi Family Residence Tea Room lies deep inside a private home and is not open, inside or out. As of September 2026, no tea gatherings or special viewings open to visitors have been announced.
The estate is walled, and whether the plastered gable can be seen from any public lane has not been confirmed, so it is safest to assume it cannot. Location and directions are covered on the Tatsumi Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- When was the Tatsumi Family Residence Tea Room built?
- It was built in 1915 and registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property on April 24, 2001.
- What is the layout of the Tatsumi Family Residence Tea Room?
- A four-and-a-half-mat tea room with a tokonoma alcove, a three-mat preparation room (mizuya) to the east, and a veranda along the north. The building area is 30 square meters.
- What makes the Tatsumi Family Residence Tea Room look unusual?
- Its tiled hip-and-gable roof, a west gable sealed in lime plaster, and ornamented verge tiles give it a heavier look than most tea rooms.
- Which buildings is the Tatsumi Family Residence Tea Room connected to?
- It adjoins the Third Storehouse on its east side and links to the main house through the covered corridor.
- Can I attend tea or visit the Tatsumi Family Residence Tea Room?
- No public tea gatherings or openings have been announced as of September 2026. It is part of a private residence and cannot be visited.
Basic Information
| Name | Tatsumi Family Residence Tea Room (辰巳家住宅茶室) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-1826-1 Hōryūji-nishi, Ikaruga-chō, Ikoma-gun, Nara Prefecture, and adjoining lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | 2001 (registered April 24, 2001) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-story timber building, tiled roof; building area 30 square meters |
| Owner | Not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (no opening announced as of 2026) |
References
- Tatsumi Family Residence Tea Room (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002162
- Tatsumi Family Residence Corridor (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002163
- Tatsumi Family Residence Third Storehouse (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002166
Last verified: 2026.09.15
