A Tea Room Roofed with Lamp-Wick Plants
Minase Shrine Tea House (水無瀬神宮茶室, Minase Jingū Chashitsu) is an early Edo-period tea house at Minase Shrine in Hirose, Shimamoto Town, Mishima District, Osaka Prefecture, designated an Important Cultural Property in 1926. It is widely known as Tōshinseki or Tōshintei, and the shrine itself uses the name Tōshinseki.
According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the building measures 7.6 meters by 5.2 meters and is a single-story structure with a hipped thatched roof and a shingled eave on the east side. The agency dates it to the early Edo period, between 1615 and 1660. It stands across the garden from the Guest Hall, its thatch answering the tiled roof of the older hall.
The name comes from the ceiling. Each panel of the coffered ceiling is filled with a different plant once used to make tōshin, the pith wicks of oil lamps: yamabuki (Japanese kerria), horsetail, reed, bush clover, tsukumogusa and others. The Osaka cultural properties guide counts ten kinds. Shimamoto Town notes that before the early Showa era the room was known as the Seven Grasses Room.
A Court Taste Said to Come from the Palace
The Minase Shrine Tea House was designated on April 19, 1926, the same day as the Guest Hall (designation no. 00819). The designation was made under the system that preceded the 1950 Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, and it became an Important Cultural Property when that law took effect.
Both the shrine and Shimamoto Town say the tea house was moved here from the imperial palace. The Osaka guide passes on the tradition that it was a favorite tea room of Emperor Go-Mizunoo, who gave it to the shrine. Go-Mizunoo is remembered as a central figure in the court culture of the Kan'ei era, so if the tradition is right, a piece of palace taste in tea was moved to a shrine. No record of when or how the move happened has been published, however, and the agency's date goes no further than the early Edo period.
Lamp wicks were an everyday consumable, a thin grass burned down and replaced. Setting such material into each square of a coffered ceiling, one of the more formal ceiling types in Japanese architecture, puts the humble inside a frame of rank. That idea is the heart of the Minase Shrine Tea House.
What to Look For
According to the Osaka guide, the tea room is a three-mat room with a daime mat, the shortened mat on which the host prepares tea, and it is flanked by a preparation room (mizuya no ma). A three-mat service room and a two-mat large preparation room in the northeast corner complete the plan.
There are two ceilings. Over the guests, the coffered ceiling has its ribs set in pairs, and the ten plants fill its panels one kind to a square. Over the host's mat, a separate ceiling of woven cattail is held by ribs of black bamboo. Material and framing change from one part of this small room to the next, so look up from more than one spot.
When you step outside, turn and look back across the garden at the Guest Hall. A Momoyama shoin and an early Edo tea house face each other here, and the layout itself shows the division of roles between the large room for receiving guests and the small one for serving tea.
Visiting the Minase Shrine Tea House
The Minase Shrine Tea House can be visited inside by reservation. The shrine's Tōshinseki page gives the fee as 1,000 yen per person, accepts single visitors, and asks that you book in advance where possible. The tour is self-guided by video, played on your own phone. According to the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau, regular reserved viewings began in October 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Older conditions still appear elsewhere on the shrine's website: the About page mentions 500 yen per person for groups of five or more, with no children of junior high school age or younger, and the Access page asks for bookings by return postcard or telephone at least a week ahead. These look like leftovers from before the change, but call the shrine office (075-961-0078) before you go to be sure.
Tea is still served in the Minase Shrine Tea House. The Tōshinkai society holds a monthly gathering, as a rule on the second Sunday, with August off. The host changes each month and is drawn from groups of the Omotesenke, Urasenke, Sōhen and other schools; the schedule is posted on the shrine's website. The shrine has not published a photography policy for the interior, so ask when you book. Directions and hours for the grounds are on the Minase Shrine page.
Q&A
- Can I visit the Minase Shrine Tea House (Toshinseki), and how much does it cost?
- Yes, by reservation. The shrine's Tōshinseki page gives 1,000 yen per person, accepts single visitors and asks for advance booking where possible; the tour is a video you watch on your own phone. Older conditions (500 yen each for five or more) remain on other pages, so phone the shrine office (075-961-0078) to confirm.
- Why is the Minase Shrine Tea House called Toshinseki?
- Each panel of its coffered ceiling holds a plant once used to make lamp wicks (tōshin), such as Japanese kerria, horsetail, reed and bush clover. The Osaka cultural properties guide counts ten kinds. Before the early Showa era it was called the Seven Grasses Room.
- When was the Minase Shrine Tea House built, and where did it come from?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the early Edo period, 1615 to 1660. The shrine and Shimamoto Town say it was moved from the imperial palace, and tradition links it to Emperor Go-Mizunoo, but no record of the move has been published.
- Are tea gatherings held at the Minase Shrine Tea House?
- Yes. The Tōshinkai holds a monthly gathering, normally on the second Sunday, except in August. Hosts from the Omotesenke, Urasenke, Sōhen and other schools take turns, and the schedule is on the shrine's website.
- How is the Minase Shrine Tea House laid out?
- A three-mat tea room with a daime host's mat sits beside a preparation room, with a three-mat service room and a two-mat large preparation room in the northeast. The whole building is 7.6 meters by 5.2 meters under a hipped thatched roof.
Basic Information
| Name | Minase Shrine Tea House (Toshinseki) |
|---|---|
| Location | 10-24 Hirose 3-chome, Shimamoto-cho, Mishima-gun, Osaka Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | 1926 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 7.6 meters by 5.2 meters |
| Owner | Minase Shrine |
| Public Access | Interior by reservation (1,000 yen, from 1 visitor); monthly tea gathering on the 2nd Sunday |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Minase Shrine Tea House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/2225
- Cultural Heritage Online: Minase Shrine Tea House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/175462
- Minase Shrine: Toshinseki (Japanese)
- https://www.minasejingu.jp/toushinseki.html
- Minase Shrine: Tsukigama Monthly Tea Gathering (Japanese)
- https://www.minasejingu.jp/tsukigama.html
- Minase Shrine: About the Shrine (Japanese)
- https://www.minasejingu.jp/info.html
- Minase Shrine: Access (Japanese)
- https://www.minasejingu.jp/access.html
- Shimamoto Town: Cultural Properties of Shimamoto (Japanese)
- https://www.town.shimamoto.lg.jp/site/rekishi-bunka/2412.html
- Osaka Bunkazai Navi: Minase Shrine (Japanese)
- https://osaka-bunkazainavi.org/bunkazai/%E6%B0%B4%E7%84%A1%E7%80%AC%E7%A5%9E%E5%AE%AE
- Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau: Minase Shrine Tea House and Guest Hall Openings (Japanese)
- https://osaka-info.jp/special/dc/event/detail753/
Last verified: 2026.10.02
