nana’s green tea MATSUE
Shimane, Japan / 2018

“Dokurakuan”

Nanaha Co., Ltd. is a company that sends the “new form of Japan” to the world through “mattcha”. They provide high quality mattcha in menus that are arranged modernly, such as mattacha latte. The space inside the shop is desired to be a “modern tearoom”, not a “Japanese style tea room”. According to the owner, it is a way of expressing their feeling to make a shop that allows the customers to enjoy the traditional Japanese culture with a modern interpretation.

In Matsue, the tea culture was brought in by General Matsudaira Fumai, the famous tea master of the Edo period.

Fumai discussed the theory of going back to the origin of Rikyu’s  “Wabi” tea, and built his own house with 11 tea rooms at where he lived after retirement.

Within these tea rooms, “Dokurakuan” holds the traditions of the Rikyu tea culture, which is rare and precious even amongst these tea rooms. It is a composite tea room with 3 separate rooms: The “Dokurakuan” with extremely small space and 2 Tatami; “Taikoan” with 3 Tatami style flooring on the side; and the outside space connecting to the water room of “Taikoan” and surrounding the room.

Therefore, Nana’s Green Tea MATSUE attempts to recreate the “Dokurakuan” where  Fumai held many tea ceremonies.

In detail, the inside of the tea room is also separated into 3 different spaces with groups of wood shafts, allowing the physical movement and views through the doors in between, just like Mr Fumai’s favourite tea room.

By this experimental design, I hope to educate the youth who are unfamiliar about the tea culture with knowledge of the traditions of tea.

Designed by Masahiro Yoshida and Yoshie Ishii
Photos by Keisuke Miyamoto

< AWARDS >
2018 – DSA Design Award 2018 WINNER