Ohashi Saryo Furomon

Ohashi Saryo Furomon, a Copper-Roofed Gate on the South Side

Ohashi Saryo Furomon (大橋茶寮不老門, Ōhashi Saryō Furōmon) is a gate built around 1949 at the Ohashi Saryo tea house, 5-6-6 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 3 August 2006.

It stands on the south side of the grounds, a little west of centre and set back slightly from the boundary: a timber Munamon ridged gate 1.5 metres wide under a gabled roof of copper sheet.

It opens on the south, apart from the front gate on the east.

A Calm Sukiya Design

Ohashi Saryo Furomon was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that logs are used for its posts and beams, giving it a calm design in the sukiya manner.

Furo means never growing old, and mon means gate. The record does not say why the gate was given the name.

The front gate is tiled and the middle gate barked; the Furomon's copper sits between them, a thinner and lighter roof carried on a frame of logs.

Diamond Lattice and Inward-Opening Doors

The Ohashi Saryo Furomon has two plank doors that open inward.

On their face is a lattice of battens set in a diamond pattern, slender pieces crossed on the diagonal. It is the gate's one piece of decoration.

Because the doors swing inward, the lattice faces anyone approaching from outside.

Set a little back from the boundary, the gate does not push out onto the path but stands slightly withdrawn.

Visiting Ohashi Saryo Furomon

Ohashi Saryo Furomon is on the south side of the grounds. The surroundings have changed with redevelopment, so check on site how far the path outside the gate can be followed.

Only guests at tea gatherings held at Ohashi Saryo pass through its gates, and which gate is used follows the host's arrangements.

No published photography policy was found. This is private property; do not step inside the gate.

Directions and general visiting conditions are on the Ohashi Saryo page.