A small thatched tearoom against the western boundary
The Sezaki Family Residence Nyozean is a small Chashitsu teahouse in Hattori, Mabicho, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, built in the early Showa period and listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) on 6 August 2025.
Its floor area is 22 m². The structure is single-storey timber under an Irimoya-zukuri roof of Kayabuki thatch, the only thatched roof in a compound otherwise covered in tile. It sits against the western boundary, with a Koshikake-machiai waiting bench on its east side.
Kurashiki City attributes the building to Sezaki Toshio, the fifth head of the family, who also converted the Shoraitei into a tearoom. The Nyozean was conceived as the opposite kind of space, a small room for a handful of guests. It dates from the early Showa period, between 1926 and 1945.
A corridor pushed out beyond the wall
The Nyozean was listed as a model of design. The first thing the Agency for Cultural Affairs description mentions is structural cheek: the corridor on the west side projects out past the boundary wall.
The building is pressed as far as it will go towards the edge of the site, and what will not fit is pushed beyond it. This is how a Roji garden path and a tearoom were fitted into ground that had no room for either. Seen from outside, a stretch of wall simply turns into a building, and for anyone walking the perimeter that projection is the only clue the teahouse is there.
The waiting bench on the east side is where guests sit until they are called in. Placing the tearoom in the far western corner and building the waiting place to match shows the sequence of a tea gathering being written into the plan of the site itself.
One mat, a daime and a board between
The interior is an ichijo-daime arrangement with two mats for guests and a narrow board set between them and the host's place. The host's mat is a daime, three-quarters of a full length. Counted in mats the room is barely three, and a few adults fill it.
A central post and a short wing wall divide off the host's position. The wing wall stops short of the floor, leaving the base open, a device that gives a cramped room a line of sight it would otherwise lack.
The ceiling follows the roof slope and changes material according to where you sit: rush above the host, woven Ajiro-tenjō above the guests. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the plan inventive, and that density of decisions in so small a space is what the word is doing.
Visiting
The Sezaki Family Residence Nyozean is privately owned and its interior is not open. Because the corridor projects beyond the boundary wall on the west, the projection and part of the thatched roof can be seen from the lane on that side. Of all the buildings in the compound this is the one an outsider notices first.
The grounds are closed and photography should be limited to what is visible from the lane. Thatch needs frequent attention, so the roof may be under sheeting or scaffolding during re-thatching. Directions and the visiting conditions for the whole compound are on the Sezaki Family Residence page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Okayama
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Sezaki Family Residence Nyozean
- [ Kurashiki Bikan District & Korakuen Garden Tours ]
Q&A
- Can I go inside the Sezaki Family Residence Nyozean?
- No. The teahouse is privately owned, the interior is closed and the grounds cannot be entered.
- How big is the Sezaki Family Residence Nyozean?
- The floor area is 22 m². Inside, two mats serve the guests and a three-quarter-length mat the host, with a narrow board between them.
- Who built the Sezaki Family Residence Nyozean and when?
- Kurashiki City attributes it to Sezaki Toshio, the fifth head of the family, in the early Showa period, between 1926 and 1945.
- Why is the Sezaki Family Residence Nyozean thatched when the rest of the compound is tiled?
- The thatch marks it out as a rustic tearoom rather than part of the working household, a deliberate contrast with the tiled main house and storehouses.
- Can the Sezaki Family Residence Nyozean be seen from outside?
- Partly. The corridor projecting beyond the wall on the west side, and some of the thatched roof, are visible from the lane there.
Basic Information
| Name | Sezaki Family Residence Nyozean |
|---|---|
| Location | 914-1 Tsujido, Hattori, Mabicho, Kurashiki, Okayama |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2025/08/06 (Reiwa 7) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single storey, thatched roof, building area 22 m² |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private residence; exterior only, from outside the grounds) |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database: Sezaki Family Residence Nyozean (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00015506
- Sezaki Family Residence Main House and Other Structures (Kurashiki City Board of Education)
- https://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/culture/art/1007596/1007597/1011206/1007792/1016887.html
Last verified: 2026.09.17
