Hassōan (Eight Window Hermitage) Teahouse
Exterior
Interior
The Hassōan teahouse in the central garden of the Museum, also called the Gansuitei, was originally built the garden of the Daijōin of the Kōfuku-ji Temple in the middle Edo period. It is a famous teahouse designed with multiple-window style which is favored by the Edo-period tea connoisseur Furuta Oribe (1544-1615) in Edo period. It is one of the “Three Teahouses of the Yamato Region, ”are along with the Rokusōan (Six Window Hermitage) from the Jigen’in sub-temple of the Kōfuku-ji temple (presently located in the Tokyo National Museum), and the Okiroku (lost in the war then moved to Tokyo) from the Shiseibō sub-temple of the Tōdai-ji Temple.
The local charitable people who wish to preserve this teahouse perpetually in Nara managed to devote to the former Imperial Nara Museum. Then the teahouse was relocated the current museum ground in 1892.
The interior of the Hassōan is a yonjōdaime, four-mat, tearoom in the gezadoko style of having the tokonoma alcove placed to the rear of the host’s seat. The building is in the Sōan “grass hut” style with an irimoya hip-and-gable style thatched roof. The interior has a straw-plaited ceiling from the alcove to the host’s seat, and the rest of roof is revealed with undecorated ceiling, kesho yaneura.
◆Information
Available for tea parties, haiku poem gatherings, flower arrangement, kōdō incense ceremony, and other cultural gatherings with a small number of people.
1.Available facilities and fee
- 1）1) Facilities available: Hassōan, koshikake-machiai (waiting place), anteroom, etc.
- 2）Fee: \20,000 per day for above facilities
(9:30AM～5:30PM) (Utilities fees and the tax included)
2.Available days and hours
- 1）Available on days museum is open in principle; closed on Mondays and during the period from December 28 to January 4, or otherwise unavailable when the museum is used for a special event.
- 2）9:00AM to 5:30PM (The user must clean up the teahouse and leave by 5:30 PM）
3.Conditions
- 1）When the teahouse is used for a tea ceremony, there must be someone who can properly instruct ceremonies among the users.
- 2）No rental tea ceremony implements available. Please bring your own implements.
- 3）The users must clean the rooms after use. Please contact the museum before you use the teahouse regarding cleaning or preparation in advance.
- 4）When the users leave the teahouse, the users need to check and report to the museum office confirming that the fire in the hearth is completely extinguished; no scratches made on the hearth, tatami mats, and the walls; no scorch marks left on tatami mats; and the rooms are completely cleaned.
- 5）All users need to wear a ribbon provided by the museum as an ID. Please return the ribbons to the museum after use of the teahouse.
- 6）Please follow the guidelines for the use of the facilities.
- 7）If you need to drive in to carry ceremony implements, please report to the museum office in advance.
4.Information and reservation
Event Promotion Team, General Affairs Section, the Nara National Museum
TEL 0742-22-7771 (Operator) FAX 0742-26-7218
