A Tea House Suited to Snow Country
The Shuseian Tea House (習静菴茶室) is a tea house of the late Taisho period in Tokimizu, Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 31, 2022 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records a single-storey timber building with a sheet-iron roof and a building area of 36 square metres, moved in 2001 and 2007; registration number 15-0567.
An Earthen Eave like a Snow Arcade
The Shuseian Tea House stood at an old family house in the city: under a gabled copper roof, a three-mat tea room and a four-and-a-half-mat waiting room sit side by side behind a wall, joined by a corridor and an earthen-floored eave on the side of the crawl-in entrance (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The tea room has a bamboo-batten ceiling, a reed ceiling over the host's mat, a red-pine lintel and an oak central post (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Why It Was Registered
The Agency notes that the earthen eave and stepping stones recall the covered snow arcades (gangi) of the region, fitting for a tea house in snow country, and registered it as a model of design.
What to Look For
Look for the earthen eave and stepping stones, and the red-pine lintel and oak post (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Visiting
It is owned by Ojiya City (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The tea house and storehouse are introduced together on the Shuseian page. No official information on public access was found.
Q&A
- When was it built?
- In the late Taisho period; moved in 2001 and 2007 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- How is it laid out?
- A three-mat tea room beside a four-and-a-half-mat waiting room.
- What suits it to snow country?
- An earthen eave and stepping stones that recall snow arcades.
- Where is it?
- In Tokimizu, Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture.
- When was the Shuseian Tea House registered?
- On October 31, 2022 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Shuseian Tea House (習静菴茶室) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1410-1 Tokimizu, Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2022/10/31 (Reiwa 4) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber, sheet-iron roof, 36 m² |
| Owner | Ojiya City |
| Public Access | No official information on access |
References
- Shuseian Tea House (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014344
Last verified: 2026.10.21
