Title Jo-an

  • Aichi
Topic(s):
Historic Sites/Castle Ruins Activities
Medium/Media of Use:
$SETTINGS_DB.mediaClassificationMap.get($item) $SETTINGS_DB.mediaClassificationMap.get($item) Pamphlet
Text Length:
751+ Words
FY Prepared:
2022
Associated Tourism Board:
Nagoya Railroad Co.,Ltd.

「国宝茶室 如庵」


如庵

織田有楽の最高傑作といわれる「如庵」は、彼の茶の美学と個性の表現である。千利休(1522-1591)のような茶人たちが築いた茶の湯建築の定石から、様々な意味で逸脱したデザインであるが、それにもかかわらず(あるいはそれゆえに)、如庵は名作として名声を保ってきた。名画画家の尾形光琳(1658-1716)は、この茶室を賞賛し、自分用に複製を注文し、(現在は京都の仁和寺に保存されている。如庵は、世界で最も多く複製されている茶室と言われている。


初期の歴史

1621年、有楽の死後、その遺品は建仁寺が管理下に置かれた。1872年、明治新政府が全国の仏教施設の力と影響力を低下させる政策を取るまで、寺は寄付によって維持された。建仁寺の寺領などは強制的に競売にかけられ、有楽邸の正伝院書院、如庵、茶庭(露地)などの所有権が京都・祇園に譲渡された。建物は「有楽館」と改称され、茶葉の加工など様々な用途に使われた。1908年、祇園はこの建物を全国の業者に売却した。その中に三井高棟という人物がいた。


三井家

三井高棟(1857-1948)は、19世紀末の富裕な商家である三井家の10代目当主であった。生涯にわたって茶の湯を学び、伝統的な建築物にも造詣が深かった。正伝院書院と如庵、そしてその茶庭を購入し、1908年に東京・麻布の自邸に移築させた。1938年、三井は神奈川県大磯の別邸に隠居することを決め、建造物を移築させた。三井は、老後は茶の湯に専念したいと考え、密集した東京の街では火災の危険が常につきまことを懸念していた。そのおかげで、第二次世界大戦で東京が焼け野原になった東京には、この建物はもうなかった。


犬山に移転

三井高棟の死後間もない1951年、如庵は国宝に指定された。1969年、名鉄(名古屋鉄道)は三井家の大磯邸の権利と建造物、美術品などを取得した。これが、有楽苑の設立のきっかけとなった。

1971年初め、「如庵」を犬山に移すための準備が始まった。まず、建物を徹底的に調査した。当時としては画期的なレントゲン撮影を行い、壁や支柱の状態を確認した。分解が始まると、丁寧に図面と寸法が取られ、部品に番号が振られた。それぞれを中綿と防水カバーで包み、玄関部分(土製の前庭とその周囲の壁)は、木製の骨組みの中に入れて、さらに構造的に支えた。作業員は振動吸収装置を取り付けた大型トラックに積み込み、1971年3月31日午前1時30分、如庵はNHKの取材班を乗せて大磯を出発した。

途中の高速道路の料金所で、積荷が、高さ制限をかすかに超えたため、1台のトラックが止められるという大きなハプニングがあった。茶室に被害はなかったが、料金所の職員はトラックを通そうとせず、業を煮やした名鉄の社員がようやく説得した。


復元と修復

如庵は無事犬山に到着し、修復師たちによって再建作業が開始された。屋根の雨漏りなどによる浸水などの影響もあり、茶室には修理が必要な部分もあったが、元の建物を保存することに力を注いだ。部分的に腐った支柱など、傷んだ構造部分は合成樹脂で補強し、木のような質感を出すために塗装を施した。また、屋根の板材など、交換が必要なものは、当時の工法と材料で製作した。

この機会に、修復師たちは長年にわたって行われてきた如庵の改造を元に戻した。大磯では建物の配置が変わっていたのに対し、如庵と正伝院書院は、有楽の京都邸の配置の史料に基づき、再び接合された。大磯では、書院の南東角から外廊下で結ばれていた。有楽苑では、この通路を撤去し、書院の縁側から直接如庵に入れるような配置にした。


建築の特徴

茶会の客は、建物の南西側にある屋根付きの玄関空間から入室する。侍は、刀を抜き襖の奥の小室にある刀掛けに刀を納める。客は全員履物を脱いで、低い位置にある小さな入口(にじり口)から這うようにして狭い部屋に入っていく。如庵の茶室はわずか3.5畳半(約6.2平方メートル)しかない。これは千利休が好んだとされる2畳間よりは広いが、小間の限度である4.5畳の範囲内である。有楽が客人の快適さを重視したことは、茶室をより広々とした設計にしたことにも表れている。

また、有楽は比較的明るい茶室を好んだ。そのため、如庵の屋根には天窓のような突き上げ窓がある。また、東側の壁には「有楽窓」と呼ばれる、如庵独特の窓が2つある。この四角い窓は、細い竹が垂直につめ打ちされている。窓を開けておくと竹の隙間から光が入り、障子を閉めると竹の影が映し出され、上品な陰絵ができる。

正面の壁と低いにじり口の反対側には、別の形式の窓が見える。これは下地窓と呼ばれている。この窓は、壁の一部を漆喰で仕上げることなく、その下にある竹と葦の格子を露出させたものである。

如庵の装飾で非常に珍しいのは、外からは見えないところにある。茶室の壁の下3分の1は古い暦で埋め尽くされており、中には1629年までさかのぼるものまである。これは「暦張り」と呼ばれる装飾技法で、身近なものを再利用し、無駄なものを一切使わない庵の素朴さをイメージしている。

Jo-an


The creation of Jo-an is considered Oda Uraku’s pinnacle achievement, and its design expresses both his personal tea aesthetic and his individuality of spirit. In many ways, Jo-an’s design is a departure from the conventions of tea house architecture laid down by tea masters like Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591). But in spite of this (or perhaps because of it), Jo-an was considered a masterwork. The acclaimed artist Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716) so admired the tea house that he commissioned a copy for himself, which is now at Ninnaji Temple in Kyoto. It is said that Jo-an has been replicated more often than any other tea house in the world.


Early History

After Uraku’s death in 1621, his estate ultimately passed into the care of Kenninji Temple. The temple maintained the estate through donations until 1872, when the new Meiji government took measures to decrease the power and influence of Buddhist institutions across the country. The temple’s land and other holdings were forcibly auctioned off, and ownership of Uraku’s residential complex—including the Shōdenin Shoin, Jo-an, and its attached tea garden (roji)—was transferred to Kyoto’s Gion district. The complex was renamed “Urakukan” (literally, “Uraku Hall”), and its buildings were used for various purposes, such as processing tea leaves. In 1908, the district sold off the buildings to various buyers from different parts of the country. One of those buyers was a man named Mitsui Takamine.


The Mitsui Family

Mitsui Takamine (1857–1948) was the tenth-generation head of the lead branch of the Mitsui family, one of the most prominent and wealthy merchant families of the late nineteenth century. Mitsui was a lifelong student of tea and a connoisseur of traditional architecture. He purchased the Shōdenin Shoin along with Jo-an and its tea garden, and in 1908 he had them moved to his residence in the Azabu neighborhood of Tokyo. In 1938, Mitsui decided to retire to the family villa at Ōiso, in Kanagawa Prefecture, and he had the structures moved there. Mitsui wished to devote more of his time to the study of tea during retirement, and he was worried about the ever-present danger of fire amid the densely clustered neighborhoods of Tokyo. Thanks to him, the buildings were no longer in Tokyo when the city was leveled by firebombing during World War II.


The Move to Inuyama

In 1951, not long after Mitsui Takamine’s death, Jo-an was designated a National Treasure. In 1969, Meitetsu (Nagoya Railroad Company, Ltd.) acquired rights to the Mitsui family’s Ōiso estate along with many of the structures and artifacts there. This set the stage for the creation of Urakuen.

The preparations to move Jo-an to Inuyama began in early 1971. First, the building was closely studied. Its walls and supports were X-rayed to determine their condition—an innovative technique at the time. As disassembly began, careful drawings and measurements were taken, and the pieces were numbered. Each piece was wrapped in padding and waterproof coverings, and the entryway section (the earthen vestibule and its surrounding walls) was then set inside a timber framework for further structural support. Workers loaded the sections onto large trucks equipped with vibration-dampening devices. At 1:30 a.m. on March 31, 1971, Jo-an departed Ōiso with NHK reporters in tow.

The journey had one notable incident: at a highway toll gate along the way, one of the trucks was stopped because the top of its cargo had very slightly grazed the clearance barrier. No harm was done to the tea house, but the toll gate employee refused to let the truck through until one frustrated Meitetsu employee finally persuaded him.


Reconstruction and Restoration

Jo-an arrived safely in Inuyama, and restorers began the work of reassembling it. Some repairs to the tea house were necessary, primarily due to water damage from roof leaks, but great effort went into preserving the original building. Damaged structural components, like the partially rotted support posts, were reinforced with synthetic resin that was textured and painted to look like wood. Anything that had to be replaced, such as the roof’s shingles, was remade using the same methods and materials as the original.

Restorers took the opportunity to undo changes that had been made to Jo-an over the years. In contrast to how the buildings had been positioned at Ōiso, Jo-an and the Shōdenin Shoin were rejoined in accordance with historical accounts of how they had been arranged at Uraku’s Kyoto residence. At Ōiso, the buildings had been connected by an exterior walkway that extended from the southeast corner of the Shoin. At Urakuen, workers removed this walkway and positioned the buildings close enough that Jo-an could be entered directly from the veranda of the Shoin.


Architectural Features

Guests attending a tea gathering at Jo-an would enter from the covered vestibule on the building’s southwest side. Before entering, samurai would remove their long swords and place them on a rack in the alcove behind the papered sliding doors. All guests would remove their footwear and crawl through the small, low entrance (nijiriguchi) into a narrow room. Jo-an’s main room has only 3.5 tatami mats of floor space (about 6.2 m2). This is larger than the two-mat rooms Sen no Rikyū is said to have favored, but still within the limit of 4.5 mats that defines a “small” tea room (koma). Uraku’s emphasis on the comfort of the guests can be seen in the more spacious design of his tea houses.

Uraku also preferred tea rooms to be comparatively well lit. To this end, Jo-an has a hinged panel in the roof that can be propped open like a skylight. It also has two windows on the eastern wall called urakumado, or “Uraku windows,” that are unique to Jo-an. The windows have square, semi-translucent panels made of thin, vertical bamboo branches that are closely spaced together. When the windows are open, light enters through the space between the branches, and sliding the paper shoji closed produces an elegant shadow effect on the paper.

Another type of window can be seen on the front wall and opposite the low nijiriguchi entrance. These are shitajimado, meaning “understructure windows.” These windows are made by leaving a section of the wall unplastered, exposing the bamboo-and-reed lattice underneath.

One highly unusual feature of Jo-an’s decoration is not visible from the outside. The bottom third of the tea house’s walls are papered in old calendars, some of which date back as far as 1629. This decorative technique, called koyomibari, is intended to evoke the rustic simplicity of a hermitage, where common objects are repurposed and nothing is wasted.

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