About the Baiso Detached Room
The Baiso Detached Room (梅荘離れ) is a single-storey timber detached reception room of about 1907, west of the main building at the Baiso villa in Kojima-Kayo, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on March 26, 2015. It is a sukiya building in the sencha taste, with windows shaped like plum blossoms, half-moons and flames.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 52 square metres; registration number 33-0269, dated around 1907. No owner is listed in the national record, and Kurashiki City gives it as privately owned. Baiso was built as a villa by Nozaki Bukichiro, grandson of the salt-field magnate Nozaki Buzaemon, to commemorate victory in the Russo-Japanese War (Kurashiki City).
Why It Was Registered
The Baiso Detached Room was registered as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. Kurashiki City sees in this sencha-style room the development of the modern reception room, and singles out its inventive windows shaped like plum blossoms, half-moons and flames. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it an open, sukiya-style detached room.
What to Look For
The Baiso Detached Room lies west of the main building along a covered corridor. It combines a 2-mat and a 6-mat room, with a mizuya preparation area and a waiting room (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The 2-mat room has a plum-blossom window and a woven wickerwork ceiling, and the 6-mat room opens through half-moon and flame-shaped windows (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The plum that gave Baiso its name reappears in the window shapes, and no two windows are alike.
Carefully chosen round logs are used for the frame and eaves (Agency for Cultural Affairs); Kurashiki City notes that Baiso uses slender natural timbers and half-dressed posts around the eaves.
Visiting the Baiso Detached Room
Baiso is privately owned, and its main building is used as a restaurant (Kurashiki City). We found no official information on whether the Baiso Detached Room is open inside. Hours and directions are on the Baiso page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Okayama
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Baiso Detached Room
- [ Kurashiki Bikan District & Korakuen Garden Tours ]
Q&A
- When was the Baiso Detached Room built?
- Around 1907.
- What shapes are the Baiso Detached Room's windows?
- A plum-blossom window in the 2-mat room, and half-moon and flame-shaped windows in the 6-mat room.
- When was the Baiso Detached Room registered as a cultural property?
- On March 26, 2015.
- Can you go inside the Baiso Detached Room?
- The main building is open as a restaurant, but there is no official information on access to the detached room.
- Who built the Baiso Detached Room?
- Nozaki Bukichiro, grandson of the salt-field magnate Nozaki Buzaemon, as part of the Baiso villa commemorating the Russo-Japanese War victory (Kurashiki City).
Basic Information
| Name | Baiso Detached Room (梅荘離れ) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1200 Daimyojin, Kojima-Kayo, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2015/3/26 (Heisei 27) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | A single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 52 square metres |
| Owner | Private (not listed in the national record) |
| Public Access | No official information on interior access (main building is a restaurant) |
References
- Baiso Detached Room (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010507
- Baiso main building and four others (Kurashiki City, Cultural Properties Division)
- https://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/24989.htm
Last verified: 2026.10.06
