Chashitsu

''Chashitsu'' (, "tea room") in Japanese tradition is an architectural space designed to be used for tea ceremony (''chanoyu'') gatherings.

The architectural style that developed for ''chashitsu'' is referred to as the ''sukiya'' style (''sukiya-zukuri''), and the term '' sukiya'' () may be used as a synonym for ''chashitsu''. Related Japanese terms are ''chaseki'' (), broadly meaning "place for tea", and implying any sort of space where people are seated to participate in tea ceremony, and ''chabana'', "tea flowers", the style of flower arrangement associated with the tea ceremony.

Typical features of ''chashitsu'' are ''shōji'' windows and sliding doors made of wooden lattice covered in a translucent Japanese paper; ''tatami'' mat floors; a ''tokonoma'' alcove; and simple, subdued colours and style. The most typical floor size of a ''chashitsu'' is 4.5 tatami mats.''Kōjien'' Japanese dictionary, entry for 'chashitsu'.

Definition

In Japanese, free-standing structures specifically designed for exclusive tea ceremony use, as well as individual rooms intended for tea ceremony, are both referred to as ''chashitsu''. The term may be used to indicate the tea room itself where the guests are received, or that room and its attached facilities, even extending to the roji garden path leading to it. In English, a distinction is often made between free-standing structures for tea, referred to as ''tea houses'', and rooms used for tea ceremony incorporated within other structures.

''Tea houses'' are usually small, simple wooden buildings. They are located in the gardens or grounds of private homes. Other common sites are the grounds of temples, museums, and parks. The smallest tea house will have two rooms: the main room where the host and guests gather and tea is served, and a '' mizuya'', where the host prepares the sweets and equipment. The entire structure may have a total floor area of only three tatami mats.

Very large tea houses may have several tea rooms of different sizes; a large, well-equipped ''mizuya'' resembling a modern kitchen; a large waiting room for guests; a welcoming area where guests are greeted and can remove and store their shoes; separate toilets for men and women; a changing room; a storage room; and possibly several anterooms as well as a garden with a ''roji'' path, an outdoor waiting area for guests and one or more privies.

''Tea rooms'' are purpose-built spaces for holding tea gatherings. They may be located within larger tea houses, or within private homes or other structures not intended for tea ceremony. A tea room may have a floor area as small as 1.75 tatami mats (one full tatami mat for the guests plus a tatami mat called a ''daime'' (), about 3/4 the length of a full tatami mat, for the portable brazier (''furo'') or sunken hearth (''ro'') to be situated and the host to sit and prepare the tea); or as large as 10 tatami mats or more; 4.5 mats is generally considered the ideal in modern tea rooms. A tea room will usually contain a ''tokonoma'' and a sunken hearth for preparing tea in the winter.

History

The term ''chashitsu'' came into use after the start of the Edo period (). In earlier times, various terms were used for spaces used for tea ceremony, such as ''chanoyu zashiki'' (, "sitting room for ''chanoyu''"), ''sukiya'' (place for poetically inclined aesthetic pursuits 'fūryū'', such as ''chanoyu''), and ''kakoi'' (, "partitioned-off space"). An account stated that it was the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa who built the first ''chashitsu'' at his Higashiyama villa in Kyoto. It was described as a small room of four-and-a-half ''tatami'' and was separated from the main residence.

According to Japanese historian Moriya Takeshi in his article "The Mountain Dwelling Within the City", the ideal of ''wabi''-style tea ceremony (''wabi-cha'') had its roots in the urban society of the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573), and took form in the tea houses that townspeople built at their residences and which affected the appearance of thatched huts in mountain villages. Before this, tea ceremony was generally enjoyed in rooms built in the ''shoin-zukuri'' architectural style, a style frequently employed in tea rooms built today.

Tea houses first appeared in the Sengoku period (mid-15th century to early 17th century), a time in which the central government had almost no practical power, the country was in chaos, and wars and uprisings were commonplace. Seeking to reclaim Japan, samurai were busy acquiring and defending territories, promoting trade and overseeing the output of farms, mills and mines as de facto rulers, and many of the poor were eager to seek the salvation of the afterlife as taught by Buddhism. Tea houses were built mostly by Zen monks or by ''daimyōs'', samurai, and merchants who practiced tea ceremony. They sought simplicity and tranquility – central tenets of Zen philosophy. The acknowledgment of simplicity and plainness, which is a central motivation of the tea house, continued to remain as a distinct Japanese tradition in the later periods.

The was a portable gilded ''chashitsu'' constructed during the 16th century Azuchi–Momoyama period for the Japanese regent Lord Toyotomi Hideyoshi's tea ceremonies. The original room is lost, but a number of reconstructions have been made. The Golden Tea Room was constructed to impress guests with the might and power of the regent. This was in contrast to the rustic aesthetics codified under his tea master Sen no Rikyū, although it is speculated that Rikyū might have helped in the design. The room's opulence was highly unusual and may have also been against ''wabi-sabi'' norms. At the same time, the simplicity of the overall design with its clean lines could be seen as within the canon. The extent of teamaster Rikyū's involvement in the design of the room is not known, however he was in attendance on a number of occasions when tea was being served to guests in the room.

Architecture

The ideal free-standing tea house is surrounded by a small garden having a path leading to the tea room. This garden is called ''roji'' (, "dewy ground") and is divided into two parts by a gate called ''chumon''. Along the path is a waiting bench for guests and a privy. Aside from its own garden, the ''chashitsu'' is arranged – along with other pavilions such as the ''zashiki'', ''oku no zashiki'', and ''hanare zashiki'' – around a larger primary garden.

There is a stone water-basin near the tea house, where the guests rinse their hands and mouths before entering the tea room through a low, square door called ''nijiriguchi'', or "crawling-in entrance", which requires bending low to pass through and symbolically separates the small, simple, quiet inside from the crowded, overwhelming outside world. The ''nijiriguchi'' leads directly into the tea room.

The tea room has a low ceiling and no furniture: the guests and host sit '' seiza''-style on the floor. All materials used are intentionally simple and rustic. Besides the guests' entrance, there may be several more entrances; at minimum there is an entrance for the host known as the ''sadōguchi'', which allows access to the ''mizuya''. Windows are generally small and covered with shōji, which allows natural light to filter in. The windows are not intended to provide a view to the outside, which would detract from the participants' concentration. There is a sunken hearth ( ''ro'') located in the tatami adjacent to the host's tatami, for use in the cold months; this hearth is covered with a plain tatami and is not visible in the warm months, when a portable brazier ( ''furo'') is used instead.

There will be a ''tokonoma'' (scroll alcove) holding a scroll of calligraphy or brush painting, and perhaps a small, simple, flower arrangement called a ''chabana'' (), but no other decoration.

''Chashitsu'' are broadly classified according to whether they have a floor area larger or smaller than 4.5 tatami, a differentiation which affects the style of ceremony that can be conducted, the specific type of equipment and decoration that can be used, the placement of various architectural features and the hearth, and the number of guests that can be accommodated. ''Chashitsu'' which are larger than 4.5 mats are called ''hiroma'' ("big room"), while those that are smaller are called ''koma'' ("small room"). ''Hiroma'' often are shoin style rooms, and for the most part are not limited to use for ''chanoyu.''

Other factors that affect the tea room are architectural constraints such as the location of windows, entrances, the sunken hearth and the tokonoma, particularly when the tea room is not located within a purpose-built structure. The other factors that influence the construction of the ''chashitsu'' as a space in the ''iemoto'' are the iconography of the past and the memory of particular individuals.

Not all tea rooms can be made to conform to the ideal seen in the image.

Typical names

It is usual for ''chashitsu'' to be given a name after their owners or benefactors. Names usually include the character for "hut", "hall", or "arbour", and reflect the spirit of rustic simplicity of the tea ceremony and the teachings of Zen Buddhism. Characteristic names include:

* Mugai-an (, Introvert Hut)
* Mokurai-an (, Silent Thunder Hut)
* Tōkyū-dō (, East-Seeking Hall) (note: the at Ginkaku-ji is pronounced Tōgu-dō, and is a private Buddhist hall, not a chashitsu)
* Shō-an (, Pine Hut)
* Ichimoku-an (, One Tree Hut)
* Rokusō-an (, Six Window Hut)
* Bōji-tei (, Forgotten Path Arbour)

Notable ''chashitsu''

* ''Tai-an'' () built in 1582, is the only extant ''chashitsu'' designed by Sen no Rikyū, representing his concept of ''wabi-cha''. Located at Myōki-an temple in Yamazaki, Kyoto. Designated a National Treasure.
* ''Jo-an'' () was built in Kyoto in 1618 by Urakusai, the younger brother of Oda Nobunaga, and was moved to Inuyama in Aichi in 1972. It was designated a National Treasure in 1951.
* ''Konnichi-an'' (, Today Hut) built by Sen Sōtan at what later became known as the Urasenke Konnichian estate. The floor space is composed of but one full tatami, a 3/4-size ''daime'' tatami, and a wooden board at the head of the ''daime'' tatami. There is no recessed ''tokonoma''.
* ''Fushin-an'' (, Doubting Hut) by Sen no Rikyū. It was moved by his son Sen Shōan to the Omotesenke estate.
* ''Zangetsu-tei'' (, Morning Moon Arbour) belongs to the Omotesenke school in Kyoto
* ''San-meiseki'' (, Three Famous Tearooms):
** '' Sarumen Chaseki'' (, Monkey face tea place) at Nagoya Castle, former National Treasure until its destruction in 1945, rebuilt in 1949
** ''Yatsu-mado no seki'' (, Eight Windows) or ''Hasō-an'' () at Isshin-ji in Osaka, designed by Lord Kobori Enshū (1579–1647)
** ''Rokusō-an'' (, Six Window Hut) from Kōfuku-ji in Nara, now in the gardens of the Tokyo National Museum
* ''Shōkin-tei'' () at Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto
* Golden Tea Room constructed under the regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598)
* '' Glass Tea House - KOU-AN'' (, Light Hut) designed by Tokujin Yoshioka (b. 1967)
* ''Ki-an'' bamboo tea house

File:Tokyo National Museum Rokusoan P3303189.jpg, Rokusō-an, formerly from Kōfuku-ji in Nara
File:Shokin-tei.jpg, Interior of Shōkin-tei at Katsura Imperial Villa
File:2002 kenrokuen hanami 0123.jpg, Yugao-tei in Kanazawa, Ishikawa
KoudaijiIhoan.jpg, Iho-an at Koudai-ji
File:Rokuonji Sekkatei.jpg, Sekka-tei at Rokuon-ji
File:Kourinin Tea House (Jikouin).jpg, Kourin-in at Jikou-in
File:Shōkō-ken.jpg, Shōkō-ken
Isome-shi Garden13s5s4410.jpg, Isome-shi
File:Kaisuian Interior window crop.jpg, Kaisuian: stacked ''shikishi'' windows
File:170923 Kodaiji Kyoto Japan38n.jpg, Shigure-tei is a unique two storied ''chashitsu'', at Kōdai-ji in Kyoto
File:Glass Tea House − KOU-AN.jpg, '' Glass Tea House - KOU-AN''

See also

* ''Ochaya'' – a geisha entertainment "tea house"
* List of teahouses
* Tea culture
* Teahouse

References

Further reading

*''Introduction to Oriental Civilizations: Sources of the Japanese Tradition''. Columbia University Press: New York 1958
*Varley, Paul. ''Japanese Culture''. 4th ed. University of Hawaii Press. 2000
*Murphey, Rhoads. ''East Asian: A New History''. 2nd ed. Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers 2001

External links

Japanese Tea House Locations by StateJapanese Tea House Locations by Map
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110725194320/http://www.kippo.or.jp/e/culture/build/naka.html General explanation of tea room and sukiya architecture in Japanese culturebr>The Herbert Offen Research Collection of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, an important research collection in regards to chashitsu.

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