Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Waiting Arbor

A Shelter of 2.3 Square Metres

The Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Waiting Arbor (北方文化博物館新潟分館待合) in Minamihamadori, Chuo Ward, Niigata City, is a single-storey timber Koshikake-machiai, a covered bench where tea guests wait, built around 1925 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 28 April 2000.

With a building area of just 2.3 square metres, the Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Waiting Arbor is the smallest of the seven registered buildings at the annex. Guests invited to a tea gathering sat here until they were called in.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the tea buildings were placed to face the dry landscape garden behind the main house and the Western-style building. The arbor stands just south of the storehouse.

Rustic by Design

The Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Waiting Arbor was registered as a model of good design. The agency praises its careful workmanship and its use of naturally curved timbers.

On the roof, the sources do not agree. The agency's commentary describes a simple roof of cedar bark held down with bamboo, while the structure field of the same database entry says wood shingle. Public records do not settle which describes the present surface, so both are given here.

The bench faces the main house and the tea room, and the back wall has a large window. A guest could sit and study the tea room and the garden before being called.

Views Both Ways

The point of the Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Waiting Arbor is its orientation. The bench looks across the garden toward the main house and the tea room, while the big rear window opens the other way. For a structure of 2.3 square metres, it is planned so that the eye can travel in both directions.

The curved natural timbers used for posts and beams have a character that sawn lumber lacks. See which members give the arbor the rustic feel expected of a building in a tea garden (Roji).

The roof covering and the bamboo that secures it reward a close look.

Visiting the Waiting Arbor

The Northern Culture Museum Niigata Annex Waiting Arbor is a small garden structure, and the annex's public pages say nothing about entering the garden. Use the floor plan to locate the tea room and the storehouse, then look for the little roof between them.

Ask at reception on the day how close you may go and whether photography is permitted.