A formal tea room by a Yabunouchi master's hand
Sannyuan is the most formally conceived of the three tea rooms on the Uchiyama estate. It was built in 1927 under the guidance of the head of the Yabunouchi school of tea, a four-and-a-half-mat room in the hongatte layout, complete with a waiting bench for guests.
Its history includes a departure and a return. At one point the room was moved to the Yoneda family in the Higashi-Iwase district of Toyama; it was restored to the estate in March 1981.
Tea at the heart of the household
The Uchiyama were a family of writers and tea practitioners, and the presence of three tea rooms on a single estate is unusual. Sannyuan, the newest of the three, shows that the tradition continued into the twentieth century rather than ending with the Edo-period house.
The estate as a whole entered the national register of tangible cultural properties in 1998, and Sannyuan sits at the southern edge of the grounds, effectively the far point of the garden circuit..
Seeing it today
Sannyuan marks the southern limit of the estate, so reaching it means walking the full depth of the garden past the storehouse and Yauchou. The four-and-a-half-mat room and its guest waiting bench make it the most complete tea setting on the grounds.
Because it was built under Yabunouchi guidance and later carefully restored, Sannyuan is a good place to see orthodox tea-room proportions, in contrast to the study-turned-tea-room Yauchou nearby.
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Questions and Answers
- When was Sannyuan built?
- It was built in 1927 under the guidance of the head of the Yabunouchi tea school, and restored to the estate in 1981 after a period elsewhere.
- What is its layout?
- A four-and-a-half-mat room in the hongatte arrangement, with a koshikake-machiai, a covered waiting bench where guests wait before a tea gathering.
- Why was it moved and restored?
- The room was at one time relocated to the Yoneda family in Higashi-Iwase, Toyama. It was returned and restored to the Uchiyama estate in March 1981.
- Where is Sannyuan located?
- At the southern end of the estate, the far point of the garden walk, beyond the storehouse and the Yauchou tea room.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Uchiyama Family Residence, Sannyuan Tea Room |
|---|---|
| Location | 903 Miyao, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (national) |
| Date registered | 23 July 1998 |
| Count | 1 structure |
| Date of construction | built 1927 (Showa 2); restored 1981 |
| Owner | Toyama Prefecture |
| Access | Open to the public as Uchiyama-tei, a branch of the Toyama Prefectural Culture Hall. Admission 250 yen. Open 9:30-17:00; closed Tuesdays and over the New Year period. |
References
- Toyama Cultural Foundation — Gono no Yakata Uchiyama-tei (official)
- https://www.bunka-toyama.jp/uchiyama/index.php
- Toyama Cultural Foundation — Uchiyama-tei Highlights
- https://www.bunka-toyama.jp/uchiyama/lookup/index.html
- Wikipedia — Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Toyama Prefecture
- https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AF%8C%E5%B1%B1%E7%9C%8C%E3%81%AE%E7%99%BB%E9%8C%B2%E6%9C%89%E5%BD%A2%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96%E8%B2%A1%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7
- Toyama Prefecture — Uchiyama-tei
- https://www.pref.toyama.jp/1603/kurashi/sportsleisure/leisure/kj00011575/kj00011575-027-01.html
Last verified: 2026.07.04