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VOL.1
The possibilities of prefabricated tea rooms
The thoughts behind "Shousouan"
2022 / 1 / 23
Due to the influence of the COVID-19, our lifestyle is about to change drastically.
Until February of last year, I went abroad with ZEN-An almost every month to disseminate Japanese space (tea room) and culture.
But now, in a society full of anxieties about how long this difficult situation will last, we must give each one wisdom.
It's an era where you can work anywhere, in the city and the countryside, in Japan and abroad.
I would like to continue to create a comfortable space that values the heart of Japan in any environment.
Thank you for your continued support this year.
Representative Director of Tsubaki Architectural Design Institute Co., Ltd.
Kuniji Tsubaki
Carpentry
The main role in teahouse construction is of course the carpenter. In the old days, a carpenter was not just a craftsman who did woodwork, but also a leader who oversaw the craftsmen. "Shosoan" was completed in a short time of one month for design and about two months for construction, thanks to the skills of the master carpenter. The pillars are made of precious woods such as cedar peel pillars, rusted logs, polished logs, chestnut hexagonal pillars, and magnolia center pillars. The pillars are erected on the chestnut naguri base, and the threshold, lintel, and veranda are connected in sequence. The floor base is made of box-shaped tatami mats to speed up assembly. The ceiling is made of light bamboo in a checkerboard pattern, and the supports and transoms are decorated with openwork carvings from all 47 prefectures, expressing a teahouse where craftsmen from all over Japan gathered. No nails or screws are used, and it is all just joisted. By the way, it can be disassembled and moved in two hours.
Plastering skills
The Juraku walls of the hall and water room are painted with genuine Juraku paint on each panel, and grooves have been dug into the pillars to create insert walls.
The base for the panels was prepared first, allowing the plastering to be done at one's own pace, independent of the carpentry process.
The base is also important in plastering, and applying multiple coats of primer will make the wall less likely to crack.
Juraku walls are made of clay that was used when Hideyoshi built Jurakudai near Nishijin in Kyoto. Genuine Juraku clay is very valuable and is now rarely found.
Joinery skills
The walls of the booth are made of openwork kumiko lattice, with the Asanoha pattern in the center (female) and the Sakura-Kikko pattern on the tokonoma wall (male).
The scenery seen through the space surrounded by the kumiko walls, which were created by assembling 20,000 pieces of wood, is soothing. The shoji screens are also made of chamfered cedar with delicate and elegant techniques.
In today's homes, prefabricated fixtures have become the norm, but fixtures are in fact the most important element in structuring a space and require the skill of a master craftsman.
The skills of the sutra writer
The sliding doors are covered with Torinoko paper and Edo Karakami paper, but even more important is the base. Multiple layers of washi paper are used, along with techniques such as fukuro-bari, to make it easy to replace the front sliding door paper. The washi paper is cut not with a cutter, but by tearing it, leaving the fibers intact, to ensure there are no uneven seams. The craftsmanship of the master is hidden everywhere, even in places you can't see.
Edo Komon Wall
This is the first time we have tried this, and selected old Ise Katagami stencils of butterflies and Hyakunin Isshu poems, and created Edo Komon patterns based on the color combinations, which are then hung around the alcove as sutra walls. The Ise Katagami carvers are getting older, and the current situation is so difficult that new designs and patterns cannot be created. We hope that by being creative, new possibilities will emerge, such as using rolls of cloth for sliding door walls and fittings.
Taiko sliding door
A fusuma door without a frame is mainly used for the tea ceremony entrance and serving entrance of the tea room, but it is made so that the wooden framework can be seen through while covering both sides with Japanese paper. The handles also vary slightly depending on the school and preference, such as dust remover and dust catcher.
Tile Technique
The ocean blue tile floor is designed to resemble rippling ocean waves. It is made into over 30 separate panels which are then assembled together. A mosaic tile turtle is swimming and gazing at the tortoiseshell kumiko wall of the booth, creating a teahouse that truly appears to be floating on the sea.
It is not common to use tiles in a tea room, but I think that textured tiles on the floor and walls would be a great fit.
Gardener's skills
I have created gardens for Shosoan four times so far, but this time I chose the dry landscape garden style, which is also popular overseas. I created a floating island of landscape stones connected to Kogetsudai and waves with gravel, which contrasts with the moss-covered ground leading up to the stone basin, but it fits nicely into the oval garden that resembles a drop of water.
Dry Landscape/ Rock Garden
Dry landscape gardens are also called rock gardens, and in the Heian period, they were merely made up of stones in the corners of the garden, but when Zen Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the Kamakura period, Zen temples began to build full-scale rock gardens, and in the Muromachi period, dry landscape gardens were perfected, using stones and sand to represent water. Dry landscape gardens became popular as meditation gardens, and many were built, as they were linked to Zen. The most famous are the rock gardens at Ginkakuji Temple and Ryoanji Temple.
It is called "ZEN Garden" in English and is extremely popular overseas.
Outdoor
The garden of a teahouse is called a roji, and from the waiting area, you walk over stepping stones and steps, pass through the inner gate, wash your hands and mouth at a shrine, and then take your seat. The stepping stones are also arranged in various ways, such as double, triple, and zigzag, and the path calms your mind as you walk and increases your anticipation for the teahouse.
The plaque reading "Shosoan" was named by Grand Master Sen Genshitsu, the 15th head of the Urasenke school. It is truly a hermitage created by a master craftsman. Shosoan, a prefabricated tea room created by the collective efforts of many craftsmen, not only plays a role in transmitting the skills of the craftsmen to the world, but is also full of hints for creating new tea room spaces of the future.
Representative Director of Tsubaki Architectural Design Institute Ltd.
Kuniji Tsubaki
Cape Copanello on the toes of the Italian peninsula.
Here, the Gatti family runs a farm that grows olives in their natural state without using any pesticides or fertilizers. Introducing the rare olive oil that is made by squeezing the early picked olives of this rare Gatti family at low temperature.
Tthe "Hokuso" area has been blessed with the abundant water of Kasumigaura and the Tone River since ancient times.
Rice has been cultivated since the Edo period, and in the olden days, rice was supplied to Edo via the Tone River.
We are reclaiming fallow fields in this area and working to regenerate delicious rice and paddy fields.
The delicious rice grown in the Hokuso region has brought a lot of wealth to the region. The homes of rice farmers in the area are also very valuable from an architectural point of view.
Unfortunately, the Hokuso area is also experiencing population outflow and aging, and as a result, these high-value buildings are also being devastated.
We regenerate these old folk houses with our knowledge and know-how as an architect and provide them as accommodation facilities.
Tsubaki's side project
SIDE PROJECT