A Four-and-a-Half-Mat Tea Room by Yasuoka Katsuya
The Hirano Family Residence Tea Room (平野家住宅茶室, Hirano-ke Jūtaku Chashitsu) is a single-storey timber tea room built around 1922 in Nishikata, Bunkyo City, Tokyo, and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 September 1998. It has a tiled roof and a footprint of 13 square metres.
It stands roughly in the middle of the Hirano Family Residence grounds, facing the guest wing of the main house. Guests were meant to arrive through the tea room gate at the southern end of the wall and along a Roji path, which means the Hirano Family Residence Tea Room had its own approach, separate from the front door of the house.
Why It Was Listed: The Work of an Architect Who Knew Tea
Yasuoka Katsuya wrote a book titled Chashitsu to Chatei (Tea Rooms and Tea Gardens) and knew tea architecture well. The Agency for Cultural Affairs values the Hirano Family Residence Tea Room as a modern tea room designed by him. It was registered under the criterion for buildings that set a standard of design.
Here an architect known for houses folded a tea room into a home of his own design. Alongside the Japanese wing and the Western block, it shows another side of his work.
What to Look For: A Board Alcove and Moon-Viewing Shoji
The Hirano Family Residence Tea Room measures four and a half tatami mats and has an itadoko, an alcove whose floor is laid with a wooden board rather than a mat. The classic four-and-a-half-mat plan is paired with a restrained alcove.
The Agency picks out the eastern side, where shoji known as tsukimi shōji, moon-viewing shoji, are fitted to open the room up. Set opposite the guest wing, the tea room seems to have been conceived less as a closed retreat than as a space turned toward the garden and the house.
Visiting
The Hirano Family Residence Tea Room sits in the middle of a private property and is not open. It is unlikely to be visible from the lane, and as of September 2026 no tea gatherings or open days had been announced.
Directions and advice on viewing the property from the street are on the Hirano Family Residence page.
Q&A
- Can you visit the Hirano Family Residence Tea Room?
- No. It stands inside a private property, is not open, and is unlikely to be visible from the lane.
- How large is the Hirano Family Residence Tea Room?
- The room is four and a half tatami mats with a board-floored alcove; the building covers 13 square metres.
- Who designed the Hirano Family Residence Tea Room?
- Yasuoka Katsuya, who designed the whole house and also wrote a book on tea rooms and tea gardens.
- Where are the moon-viewing shoji in the Hirano Family Residence Tea Room?
- On the east side, where they open the room up to its surroundings.
- What are the registration number and date of the Hirano Family Residence Tea Room?
- It is registration no. 13-0024, entered in the eleventh round of listings on 2 September 1998.
Basic Information
| Name | Hirano Family Residence Tea Room (平野家住宅茶室) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2-9-12 Nishikata, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 1998/9/2 (Heisei 10) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, single storey, tiled roof, building area 13 square metres |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; not visible from the lane |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: 平野家住宅茶室 (Hirano Family Residence Tea Room)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00000643
- Bunkyo City: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in the ward (Japanese)
- https://www.city.bunkyo.lg.jp/b047/p004380.html
Last verified: 2026.09.26
