''Chashitsu'' (, "tea room") in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese tradition is an architectural space designed to be used for

tea ceremony Tea ceremony is a ritualized practice of making and serving tea (茶 ''cha'') in East Asia practiced in the Sinosphere. The original term from China (), literally translated as either "''way of tea''", "''etiquette for tea or tea rite''",Heiss, M ...

(''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 A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of Transparency and translucency, translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaq ...

'' windows and sliding doors made of wooden lattice covered in a translucent Japanese paper; ''

tatami are soft mats used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. They are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about , depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are used for training in a dojo and for competition. ...

'' mat floors; a ''

tokonoma A , or simply , is a recessed space in a Japanese-style reception room, in which items for artistic appreciation are displayed. In English, a could be called an Alcove (architecture), alcove. History There are two theories about the predece ...

'' 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 , lit. 'dewy ground', is the Japanese term used for the garden through which one passes to the ''chashitsu'' for the tea ceremony. The ''roji'' acts as a transitional space leading from the entry gate to the teahouse, and generally cultivates an ...

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 Equipment most commonly refers to a set of tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by ...

. 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 The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

(). 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 , officially , was the title of the military aristocracy, rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, exc ...

Ashikaga Yoshimasa "Ashikaga Yoshimasa" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1449 to 1473 du ...

who built the first ''chashitsu'' at his Higashiyama villa in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. 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 The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

(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 The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

(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 The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

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 Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. Tea houses were built mostly by Zen monks or by ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

s'',

, 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 Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...

''chashitsu'' constructed during the 16th century

Azuchi–Momoyama period The was the final phase of the in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. After the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate effectively collapsed, marking the start of the chaotic Sengoku period. In 1568, Oda Nob ...

for the Japanese regent Lord

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

'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 A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

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 '' Seiza '' ( or ; ; ) is the formal, traditional way of sitting in Japan. It involves a specific positioning and posture in a Kneeling, kneeled position so as to convey respect, particularly toward elders. It developed among samurai during t ...

''-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

, 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 ''

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

''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 is a type of audience hall in Japanese architecture that was developed during the Muromachi period. The term originally meant a study and a place for lectures on the sūtra within a temple, but later it came to mean just a drawing room or stu ...

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 is a Japanese term used to refer to the founder or current Grand Master of a certain school of traditional Japanese art. It is used synonymously with the term when it refers to the family or house that the iemoto is head of and represents. Th ...

'' are the

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

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 A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, clay, hid ...

", "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 , officially named , is a Zen temple in the Sakyo ward of Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the constructions that represent the Higashiyama Culture of the Muromachi period. History Ashikaga Yoshimasa initiated plans for creating a retirement vi ...

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 , also known simply as Rikyū, was a Japanese tea master considered the most important influence on the ''chanoyu'', the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of '' wabi-cha''. He was also the first to emphasize several key aspect ...

, representing his concept of ''wabi-cha''. Located at Myōki-an temple in Yamazaki,

. Designated a

National Treasure A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

. * ''

Jo-an is a seventeenth-century Japanese teahouse ('' chashitsu'') located in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture. ''Jo-an'' is said to be one of the three finest teahouses in Japan and has been in its current location in Inuyama since 1972. It was designated ...

'' () was built in

in 1618 by Urakusai, the younger brother of

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

, and was moved to Inuyama in

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

in 1972. It was designated a

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

. 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 is a Japanese castle located in Nagoya, Japan. Nagoya Castle was constructed by the Owari Domain in 1612 during the Edo period on the site of an earlier castle of the Oda clan in the Sengoku period. Nagoya Castle was the heart of one of the ...

, 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 is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, designed by Lord Kobori Enshū (1579–1647) ** '' Rokusō-an'' (, Six Window Hut) from Kōfuku-ji in

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

, now in the gardens of the

Tokyo National Museum The or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō wards of Tokyo, ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the , is considered the oldest national museum and the largest art museum in Japan. The museum collects, prese ...

* ''Shōkin-tei'' () at

Katsura Imperial Villa The is an Imperial residence with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. Located on the western bank of the Katsura River in Katsura, Nishikyō-ku, the Villa is 8km distant from the main Kyoto Imperial P ...

in Kyoto * Golden Tea Room constructed under the regent

(1537–1598) * ''

Glass Tea House - KOU-AN ''Glass Tea House - KOU-AN'' is a ''chashitsu'' (teahouse) created by Japanese designer and artist Tokujin Yoshioka. The teahouse made its debut at the 54th Venice Biennale, La Biennale di Venezia in 2011. Starting with the exhibition at Tendai ...

'' (, Light Hut) designed by

Tokujin Yoshioka is a Japanese designer and artist active in the fields of design, architecture and contemporary art. Some of his works are part of permanent collections in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Victoria and Albe ...

(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

File:2002 kenrokuen hanami 0123.jpg, Yugao-tei in

Kanazawa, Ishikawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Etymology The name "Kanazawa" ...

KoudaijiIhoan.jpg, Iho-an at Kōdai-ji, Kyoto File:Rokuonji Sekkatei.jpg, Sekka-tei at

Rokuon-ji , officially named , is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan and a tourist attraction. It is designated as a World Heritage Site, a National Special Historic Site, a National Special Landscape, and one of the 17 Historic Monuments of Ancient Ky ...

File:Kourinin Tea House (Jikouin).jpg, Kōrin-an at Jikō-in, Nara 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, ''

References

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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