Kangetsuan Teahouse

 

Kangetsuan is a thatched Teahouse in the garden of Fumon-in Temple near Matsue Castle.

In the previous post I covered the temple and garden, and in this post I will focus on the teahouse itself.

After leaving the temple building, the first stop is the waiting area where guests would wait for the host to greet them.

Like the teahouse, it is also thatched. Called Koshikake Machiai, the ceiling is made from planks recycled from clam-fishing boats.

The stepping stones to and from the waiting area are higher than most normal gardens, a feature of Izumo-style gardens that receive a lot of snow.

The teahouse was constructed in 1801 and it is believed Fumai Matsudaira, the lord of the domain and a master of the arts of tea, visited often.

It is also believed that lafcadio Hearn learn Tea Ceremony here.

The teahouse was designed by th 9th head priest of the temple who also happened to be the 9th Head of the Sansai School of Tea, founded by Hosokawa Sansai, one of the 7 disciples of Rikyu.

The inner garden leads to the Nigiriguchi, the half-height entrance with a purpose of instilling humility upon entering.

It also meant swords could not be worn inside the tearoom. A rack for swords can be seen on the right of the photo above.

A circular window in the neighboring room looks out on the pond.

As the name suggests, this building was used to watch the moon. A second moon would appear in reflection in the pond.

The previous post was on the Fumon-in temple and garden.

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Taking Tea at Fumon-in Temple Matsue

 

Fumon-in, a small Tendai temple near Matsue castle, has an Edo-period teahouse used by the great tea master and daimyo, Fumai, and also later by the writer Lafcadio Hearn.

The small bridge you must cross to reach the temple is itself the subject of a ghost story made famous by Hearn.

In the grounds is a fairly big Inari Shrine. Originally established in Wakamiya Shrine to the north of the castle, the priest of Fumon-i was charged by the lord of the castle to perform ceremonies at the shrine. It was moved here in 1870 following the separation of Buddhas and kami.

The thatched roof of the teahouse Kangetsuan can be seen from the temple's outer grounds

The honzon of the temple is a Fudo Myoo and there are several other, smaller, stone Fudo's in the grounds.

Plastic bamboo...

Binzuru

The temple was originally established in 1607 by the first lord of Matsue, Yoshiharu Horio. Called Ganno-ji it was located further away from the castle.

It burned down and in 1699 was rebuilt at the current location and renamed Fumon-in.

The current location was chosen as it protects the castle from the dangerous influences that come from the NE.

The temple is now most famously known for the teahouse Kangetsuan.

Built in 1801 in the temples small, pond, stroll garden...

Fumai Matsudaira, the great tea master, is said to have visited often.

Visitors can walk in the garden and look inside the teahouse, but not enter.

In the next post in this series I will post about Kangetsuan.

After exploring I returned to the temple and the priest's wife brought me a matcha and sweet to enjoy.

The previous post in this series on Matsue was on the garden and teahouse at the nearby Matsue History Mueum.

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Hirata Honjin Gardens, Mansion, & Museums

 

The Hirata Honjin Museum is located on a hillside overlooking the old town of Hirata near the shore of Lake Shinji.

A honjin was a property used as a guesthouse by feudal lords when they traveled within their domain and this one was the residence of the wealthy Honkisa family who made their fortune locally with sake brewing and trading cotton.

The buildings and most importantly the garden were dismantled and moved here from their original site about 2 kilometers away.

It is an Izumo-style garden, karensansui, with the arrangement of stepping stones that marks it as uniquely Izumo.

It is sometimes referred to as Gentan-style after Sawa Gentan, a gardener brought to Izumo by The famous daimyo Matsudaira Fumai who had a hand in designing many of the gardens in the Izumo and Matsue area.

Unfortunately, the garden cannot be entered, however, it can be enjoyed from the main room of the house.

Some say that the garden can be best appreciated in the rain when the wet stones shine....

However, visitors are allowed to enter the gardens that lead from the main house to the Yuyuan Teahouse.

The Yuyuan is a Shoin-style teahouse of 4.5 tatami.

It is not open to visitors, but can be rented.

It was reproduced using the original Edo period plans.

As well as the gardens, the whole house is open to visitors.

On display are artworks and artifacts from the family, including some samurai armour.

The traditional bathroom and toilets are also open.

There are also two large, modern, galleries that show temporary exhibitions, and sometimes more works from the family collection of prints and paintings.

These sometimes  have an entry fee, though I must stress that everything else is free.

And yet there is more......

Some large storehouses have been converted into a Folk Crafts Museum....

In many ways this place is similar to the Izumo Cultural Heritage Museum which also offers gardens, traditional architecture, and exhibitions with no entry fee. If anything The Hirata Honjin has the edge in terms of displays and gardens.

In the entrance hall you will see a big example of a local artform, Isshiki Kazari. I have briefly touched on this before, in this post.

In the old section of Hirata you will be able to see many more examples of isshiki kazari and also visit a wealthy merchant home and gardens, that while not as spectacular as the Hirata Honjin, is well worth a visit.

For those into gardens, less than 2 kilometers from Hirata Honjin is Kokokuji, a zen temple with a small but excellent garden. It and the Hirata Hoinjin garden always appear in the top gardens list of the American magazine Journal of Japanese Gardening. The top garden in that magazine is always the Adachi Museum Garden, also in Shimane.

The previous posts in this series on Izumo and Matsue were on Izumo Cultural Heritage Museum and Gardens.