Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Tea House

A Tea Room Named by Aizu Yaichi

The Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Tea House (北方文化博物館新潟分館茶室) in Minamihamadori, Chuo Ward, Niigata City, is a single-storey timber Chashitsu, or tea room, built around 1925 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 28 April 2000.

The Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Tea House stands on its own, set slightly back to the northwest of the main house, with a building area of 20 square metres. The poet Aizu Yaichi later gave it the name 清行庵. The Agency for Cultural Affairs says it is thought to date from the late Taisho era, when the Ito family reworked their villa.

Three Mats and a Daime

The Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Tea House was registered as a model of good design. The agency calls it an elegant tea room of three mats and a daime, finished with sukiya refinement. A daime is a tatami about three-quarters of standard length, used on the host's side; three full mats and one daime make a compact room for a small party.

The roof was once steeply pitched thatch (Kayabuki). A copper-covered pent roof runs along the garden side, and the building's current registered structure is given as tiled.

The tea room faces the dry landscape garden behind the main house and the Western-style building. The waiting arbor faces the same garden, and the storehouse stands at the far end of the plot, so the buildings for tea gather together at the back of the estate.

Reading the Roof

When you look at the Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Tea House, start with the pitch of the roof. Comparing the steep angle once needed for thatch with the tiled roof of today is a way into the building's history.

The copper pent roof on the garden side separates that tall roof from the low eaves. Look for the contrast between verdigris copper and grey tile.

On the annex floor plan, the tea room is drawn a short distance from the northwest corner of the main house, with the garden's stepping-stone path passing close by.

Visiting and Using the Tea Room

The Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Tea House is available for hire under the name 清行庵 for tea gatherings. According to the annex, bookings run within normal opening hours and cost 17,600 yen a day (tax included, in force since October 2019, admission extra); half-day use is charged at 80 percent, and hirers bring all their own utensils. The room-hire listing presents 清行庵 as a set that includes a 6-mat room and a preparation area.

The annex usually hosts tea gatherings in October and November, including the Niigata citizens' tea gathering, though the programme varies from year to year. Enquiries go to the main museum on 025-385-2001.

The museum's public pages do not say whether the interior can be viewed on days without a gathering. Ask at reception what can be seen and whether photography is allowed.