Northern Culture Museum Bathhouse

A Bathhouse for the Great Hall

The Northern Culture Museum Bathhouse (北方文化博物館湯殿, Yudono) in Somi, Konan Ward, Niigata City, is a single-storey timber bath building of 1889, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 28 April 2000.

The Northern Culture Museum Bathhouse stands southeast of the great hall and is linked to it by a corridor-like passage. It covers 35 square metres under a hipped (Yosemune-zukuri) pantile roof (Sangawara-buki), and contains the bath itself, a tatami-floored rest room and a lavatory.

It dates from the same year as the great hall, to which it belongs as an annex.

Sukiya Care on a Small Scale

The Northern Culture Museum Bathhouse was registered as a building that would be difficult to reproduce. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that, although small, it is finished in sukiya taste inside and out, with woven wood strips (ajiro) holding the dado panels and bamboo lattices over the windows.

That is the heart of the listing: a practical building given the kind of fine detail usually seen in a tea house. The tatami rest room also shows that this was more than a place to wash.

Woven Panels and Bamboo Lattice

On the outside of the Northern Culture Museum Bathhouse, look at the ajiro that frames the lower walls. Thin woven strips give a flat surface a fine, textile-like texture.

The bamboo window lattices are worth a look too. Using bamboo rather than timber makes the openings feel light and soft. Between them, these two materials define the exterior of this small building.

The passage to the great hall lies in the hall's southeast corner, close to the Copper Gate and Wall.

Visiting the Bathhouse

The Northern Culture Museum Bathhouse is inside the museum grounds, southeast of the great hall. After touring the hall, look for it on that side.

The museum does not publish how much of the interior can be seen, so follow the route signs on site and ask at reception before taking photographs.