By using this site, you are allowing the configuration and use of cookies. For details, please see our Privacy Policy.new window

Skip Navigation

Japanese Style Annex,Yushintei

A photo of the exterior of Yushintei, the Japanese Annex. There is a path through the lawn leading to the annex. Across a pond, the gabled roof of the one-story Japanese Annex can be seen.

Hospitality, Japanese-style

The Japanese-style annex Yushintei was designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi, the architect of the Crown Prince's Palace, and built in 1974. While the functions and modes of hospitality found in the main wing are entirely Western, the annex is a facility where foreign guests are welcomed according to Japanese framework and in purely Japanese style of hospitality. Along with an aesthetic experience characteristic of Japanese dwellings and gardens, Yushintei provides Japanese hospitality through tea, flowers, and foods.

Highlights

A photo of the inner garden of the Japanese Annex. Pure white pebbles blanket the ground, and three stones from Kifune, in Kyoto, have been arranged in the center. Moso bamboo grows behind the rocks.

The Main Entrance and Japanese Courtyard from the Covered Walkway

The bronze lantern hung to the left of the main entrance has goshichi no kiri, the emblem associated with the Japanese Government. To the right of the covered walkway that extends from the main entrance is a courtyard garden, planted with tortoiseshell bamboo and evocative with white shirakawa gravel and kibune stone from Kyoto.

A photo of the main Japanese-style room in the Japanese Annex. A table has been placed over a sunken foot space in this spacious tatami room, and in the distance one can see a toko-no-ma (alcove for displaying flowers or calligraphy) in jet black.

Used for Viewing Kimono and Ikebana, in Addition to Japanese State Dinners

The Main Japanese-style Room is just over 77 square meters (47 jo) and floored in tatami. When holding formal Japanese-style dinners, the floor under the table can be recessed to provide guests with a more relaxed seating arrangement. The table can also be stored under the floor, placing the entire tatami-lined room at the disposal of kimono and ikebana (flower arrangement) appreciation, and exhibition of traditional Japanese dance.

A photo of the tea room in the Japanese Annex. Several chairs have been arranged by the wall, in addition to a four-and-a-half tatami mat space. A hanging scroll is displayed in the toko-no-ma alcove in the back of the room.

Ceremonial Welcome with Tea

The back alcove of the tea room is hung with a calligraphic scroll by the head priest of Daitoku-ji Temple. Approximately 7.5 square meters in size (4.5 jo), the tatami-lined seating area of the tea room is for visitors to observe tea being prepared and partake in the tea experience.

A photo of the dining chairs in the Japanese Annex. Chairs are arranged along a counter. The pillars and exposed beams of the room are made of rough-hewn chestnut, and slats of bamboo are affixed to the ceiling, creating a rustic appearance.

Room with kitchen-counter

Fitted with counter seating, this area is used to entertain visitors in a more intimate environment, with cuisines like tempura and sushi being prepared on the spot.

A photo of the colored carp in the pond in the Japanese Annex. The brightly colored carp swim elegantly in shades of red, white, gold, and other colors.

Varicolored Carp

A fishpond is situated just off of the hiro-en (low veranda), providing guests with a view of varicolored carp in the water.

A photo of the reflected light trembling on the ceiling. Looking towards the outdoors from the main Japanese-style room, one can see the sunlight that strikes the pond, projected in trembling patterns onto the ceiling of the veranda.

Undulating Reflections on the Ceiling

Called yuragi, these sunlit ripples reflected off the pond and onto the wide veranda ceiling are a part of the Japanese aesthetic.

A photo of the bonsai trees at the Japanese Annex. Japanese white pine and black pine bonsai are carefully tended here.

Bonsai

The collection includes 140-year-old Japanese black pine and white pine.