11:00am-2:00pm  &  5:30pm-9:30pm








11:00am-2:00pm  &  5:30pm-10:00pm


12:00 am - 2:00pm


4:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Steeped in Tradition

Beginning the the middle of the Momoyama period (1573-1600), Japan's tea masters began to favor teahouses smaller than four-and-a-half tatami mats. Their aesthetic sense and creative genius produced examples of architecture unique in the world.

Oda Urakusai was the younger brother of Oda Nobunaga, the soldier of fortune who unified much of Japan under his rule in the mid-sixteenth century. Urakusai was an active devotee of the tea ceremony in his later years, and lived to 75 years old.

His brilliance can be seen in the Joan Teahouse. The photograph below shows the refinement of the interior design.

Though the floor space is only three tatami mats and the design is complicated, the room is comfortable and unopressive.

There are few famous teahouses that capture the tea master's creativity so well. Urakusai constructed this room in the Shoden'in, the priest's quarters in Kyoto's Kenninji Temple. It was later removed and rebuilt several times until the present day.


Teahouse: Joan
By Oda Urakusai
Registered National Treasure
Edo Period, around 1618
Uraken, Inuyama, Achi Prefecture