About the Facilities
In the museum’s gardens stand two tea rooms, Shoutouan and San-u-tei, and a waiting bench (koshikake-machiai). These important historical buildings, closely associated with the Kaga Domain, are normally open to the public. They can also be rented for tea ceremonies and haiku gatherings, etc.
Closed
Mondays (When Monday is a national holiday, closed on the following weekday instead.)
Open Hours
10:00～17:00 *Not open to the public on day of tea ceremony.
Admission
Free
Shoutou-an
This building was constructed in the late Edo period by Maeda Nariyasu (1811-1884), the 13th lord of the Kaga Domain, as the sitting room of his retirement villa, Fuyuen. It came to be called the “Red Room” because of the bengala (red iron oxide made by baking earth) that was painted on its posts and beams. After being moved to Kamakura and reassembled as a detached residence, it was later renovated as a freestanding tea room of the Sukiya style and named Shoutou-an by Maeda Toshinari (1885-1942), the 16th head of the Maeda Clan, in 1936. After being brought to Kanazawa City and reassembled in 1979, it was acquired by Kanazawa City. Shoutou-an is a valuable historical building that transmits the architectural tastes of the late Edo Period. In reassembling it at the Museum, effort has been made to maintain its atmosphere as such, and a mizuya (“preparation room”) and ryurei-seki (room for performing the tea ceremony using chairs) have been added.
San-u-tei, and a waiting bench (koshikake-machiai)
This tea room was brought from Takaoka City to Honda-machi in Kanazawa City and reassembled here in 1951, where it was used at the residence of Yoji Naoyama, the president of an industrial machinery production company. The koshikake-machiai adjoining it is believed to have been moved to the same location from the main residence of the House of Cho, one of the Eight Houses of the Kaga Domain. Built in the Soan (thatched hut) style and situated among trees in Kanazawa’s lushly wooded Honda district, the tea room was long known as Yama no Ocha-shitsu (“Mountain Tea Room”). Since its reassembly at the Museum, it has been named San-u-tei (“Mountain Cottage”) in consideration of this fact. It was gifted to Kanazawa City in 2002. In its reassembly, extreme effort has gone into restoring it using its original parts and repairing only the damaged portions, so as not to harm the building’s mood and historical value.