A Meiji Tea Room Behind the Jibutsudo
Kongoji Honbo Tea Room (金剛寺本坊茶室, Kongō-ji Honbō Chashitsu) is a tea room built in 1911 in the head priest's quarters of Amanosan Kongoji in Amanocho, Kawachinagano City, Osaka Prefecture, and it was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 28, 2017.
It stands in a corner of the Honbo garden, behind the Jibutsudo chapel; the temple's conservation plan places it west of that chapel. In 1911 Chuin and other sub-temples were merged into Kongoji, and the Honbo Grand Entrance went up the same year, so the Kongoji Honbo Tea Room belongs to the moment when the enlarged Honbo was being put in order.
Windows and Doorways Placed with Care
The Kongoji Honbo Tea Room was registered as a model of design, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a tea room of high quality.
The building has a copper-sheeted hip-and-gable roof and a building area of 32 square metres. A 4.5-mat tearoom is joined on the north by a preparation room.
The placement of the openings rewards attention. At the northeast corner, lattice windows open on two walls. A kininguchi, a full-height door for honoured guests, is set in the south wall, while the nijiriguchi, the low crawl-through entrance, sits at the south end of the west wall. Splitting the two entrances between different walls also varies the light from each side.
The ceiling slopes along the roof line in its western part and is a flat batten ceiling elsewhere, which gives the small room a shifting sense of height.
A Room Cantilevered Over the Slope
The east end of the Kongoji Honbo Tea Room is built in the manner of kakezukuri, a technique in which long posts set on sloping ground support a floor that juts outward. Applying it to such a small tea room is what makes the building distinctive.
The temple's conservation plan reports that the copper roof has weathered and that the building shows general wear. It lists reroofing, including the substrate, and overall maintenance repairs as long-term tasks.
Visiting the Kongoji Honbo Tea Room
The Kongoji Honbo Tea Room stands inside the Honbo garden, which visitors can walk as part of the Honbo visit. No public opening of the tea room interior is announced, so expect to view it from the garden.
Look at the east end together with the ground beneath it to understand how it is supported, and find the guest door on the south and the crawl-through entrance on the west. Ask at reception about photography. Directions, opening hours, and admission for the whole precinct are on the Amanosan Kongoji Temple page.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the Kongoji Honbo Tea Room?
- No public opening of the interior is announced. You can view the Kongoji Honbo Tea Room from the garden during the Honbo visit.
- When was the Kongoji Honbo Tea Room built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to 1911, the year of the sub-temple consolidation and of the Honbo Grand Entrance.
- How is the Kongoji Honbo Tea Room laid out?
- A 4.5-mat tearoom with a preparation room to the north, lattice windows on two walls at the northeast corner, a guest door on the south, a crawl-through entrance on the west, and a partly sloping ceiling.
- What does kakezukuri mean for the Kongoji Honbo Tea Room?
- Its east end is built like kakezukuri, with posts on sloping ground supporting a floor that projects outward.
- Is any repair planned for the Kongoji Honbo Tea Room?
- The temple's conservation plan lists reroofing and general maintenance as long-term tasks because the copper roof has deteriorated. No schedule has been announced.
Basic Information
| Name | Kongoji Honbo Tea Room (金剛寺本坊茶室) |
|---|---|
| Location | 996 Amano-cho, Kawachinagano City, Osaka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | 2017 (Heisei 29) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building; hip-and-gable copper-sheeted roof; building area 32 square metres |
| Owner | Amanosan Kongoji (religious corporation) |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable within the paid Honbo visit (no interior opening announced) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Kongoji Honbo Chashitsu (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00011762
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kongoji Honbo Chashitsu
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/245558
- Amanosan Kongoji official website (visitor information)
- https://amanosan-kongoji.jp/
- Historic Site Kongoji Precinct Conservation and Utilization Plan, chapter 6-2 (PDF)
- https://amanosan-kongoji.jp/site/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/%E5%8F%B2%E8%B7%A1%E9%87%91%E5%89%9B%E5%AF%BA%E5%A2%83%E5%86%85%E4%BF%9D%E5%AD%98%E6%B4%BB%E7%94%A8%E8%A8%88%E7%94%BB_%E8%BB%BD%E9%87%8F%E7%89%88%EF%BC%88%E7%AC%AC6%E7%AB%A0-2%EF%BC%89.pdf
- Historic Site Kongoji Precinct Conservation and Utilization Plan, chapters 7 to 11 (PDF)
- https://amanosan-kongoji.jp/site/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/%E5%8F%B2%E8%B7%A1%E9%87%91%E5%89%9B%E5%AF%BA%E5%A2%83%E5%86%85%E4%BF%9D%E5%AD%98%E6%B4%BB%E7%94%A8%E8%A8%88%E7%94%BB_%E8%BB%BD%E9%87%8F%E7%89%88%EF%BC%88%E7%AC%AC7%E7%AB%A0%EF%BD%9E%E7%AC%AC11%E7%AB%A0%EF%BC%89.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.15
