 44. Inside the Kimmo-kutsu |
Mr. Hara, founder of Sankei-en and patron of the tea cult in the Meiji Era, designated this tea arbor. The entrance of the arbor is so low and narrow that one has to bend down and creep going through it. Among other things, such an arrangement prevented samurai from entering the tea arbor while armed. Thus the architecture of the building was designed to produce an atmosphere conducive to proper enjoyment of the tea ceremony: an atmosphere of detachment from warfare and all other mundane things.
Renge-in This is an elegant cottage with a tea room. The column standing in the center of the earth floor is of note because it was brought by Mr Hara from the Ho-o-do (Phoenix) Hall of the Byodo-in Temple in Uji. The lattice work set in the wall is also said to have come from the Phoenix Hall. At the foot of the column is placed a flat stone of unknown origin which was very probably the foundation of a tower. |
