Back to buildersHandles survey, design, construction and maintenance in-house; overseas work includes the tea room “Kohaku” at the Guimet Museum in Paris.
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Source: kyoto-yamamotokogyo.com
Founded in Kyoto in 1965 by Takaaki Yamamoto, who trained under the sukiya master Kaichiro Fuefuki before going independent. Yamamoto was honoured by the Minister of Labour as a "Contemporary Master Craftsman". The company name was given by the chief priest of Kenkun Shrine.
Centred on log-built tea rooms and sukiya, it also builds temples, shrines and wooden houses, and conserves National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties. Sukiya carpenters and architects handle everything from survey and proposal to design, construction and maintenance.
Notable works include the Koshun-an (1998, own design) and Isshi-an (1999) tea rooms at Obai-in, Daitoku-ji; the Kyohaku tea room at the Guimet Museum in Paris (2001); and the ceiling of the Kiri-no-ma at the Kyoto State Guest House (2004). Its current head carpenter, Koji Hozono, has received Kyoto Prefecture's award for outstanding traditional-industry craftsmen.
At Hirano-no-ie Waza Eieito — a 1926 home and studio of the painter Chikusai Yamashita, renovated by the firm — it welcomes visits from people considering a new build or renovation.
A sukiya addition at Ōbai-in with the five-and-a-half-mat Hōrai-an, the chair-seated Kan-an and the 20-mat Gentoku-ken, linked by a corridor to Isshi-an. Underfloor heating was added to traditional design, and a 1.5 m level change was absorbed with a courtyard and an arched, bridge-like corridor. Designed in-house.
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A tiny one-and-three-quarter-mat room, the opposite of Kōshun-an. Its alcove post, a polished Kitayama log with a branch, was sought to match the name plaque and fitted perfectly. A room for one host and one guest in the wabi spirit. Designed in-house.
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A new tea room in the bamboo garden of the Musée Guimet annex in Paris (design: Masao Nakamura). Fine timber was chosen for a place of Franco-Japanese exchange, and the parts were marked, cut and test-assembled in Japan before being erected on site.
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Built in the Japanese garden of Expo 2005 for international exchange and to introduce young people to Japanese culture (design: Yoshihiro Horio). Bold, unconventional details were realised with sukiya techniques; after the Expo it became a prefectural facility.
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The firm made the ceiling boards for the 56-mat Kiri-no-ma. Yoshino cedar boards 12 m long and 500 mm wide, said to be impossible to source, were cut from a standing tree about 280 years old and finished with hand planes; all the ceiling battens came from the same tree.
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Restoration of two wooden buildings moved from Japan around 1900 to the Japanese garden of this museum near Paris. They were fully dismantled, the old timbers repaired and reinforced, and rebuilt, with missing materials and tools shipped from Japan.
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A tea house in Unomori Park; the firm built the small room, connecting corridor, privy and preparation room in collaboration with a local builder (design: Masao Nakamura). It hosts monthly tea gatherings and classes.
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A residence using a sloping site to arrange the entrance, tea-room wing, Noh stage and waiting bench (design: Yoshihiro Horio). The tea room's middle post is a curved camellia trunk.
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The 1926 home and studio of painter Yamashita Chikusai, restored over about three years. Original details were recovered from old photos and traces, lost parts were filled with new sukiya design, and solar power and underfloor heating were added. It includes the Juraku-an tea room and garden. Designed in-house.
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A two-mat tea platform added to a shop's reception room: the host kneels on tatami while guests sit on chairs for lessons or tea experiences. Swapping the mats allows both sunken-hearth and brazier seasons.
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A former teahouse in Gion converted into an inn for just two groups a day, using sukiya craft to create unhurried, home-like rooms by the Shirakawa stream.
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A modern Japanese-style residence of main house, Western wing and storehouse, repaired from 2015 with respect for its original character, including new blinds, bamboo-strip shoji and reed doors and a renewed cedar-bark fence.
View on official site ↗Photos: Yamamoto Kogyo official website
The firm sees the heart of sukiya building in drawing out the character of natural logs and bamboo—no two alike—and placing each where it fits best. Sukiya carpenters and architects handle everything from survey and proposal to design, construction and maintenance.
It also applies traditional skills to the conservation of cultural properties and sees passing that knowledge on as part of its role.
Lead master carpenter Koji Hozono received the Kyoto Prefecture award for outstanding traditional-industry craftsmen in 2017. The master judges materials and coordinates roofers, plasterers, tatami makers, joiners and gardeners. His work has appeared on NHK programmes such as the ceiling episodes of "Bi no Tsubo".
Tours are offered to people considering new building or renovation work (by appointment; public tours are also available by reservation).
Besides exhibitions and concerts it serves as a tea-lesson venue and can be rented for tea gatherings, lectures and seminars. In 2019 it was selected for Kyoto City's list of buildings and gardens that colour Kyoto.
Photos: Yamamoto Kogyo official website
| Company | Yamamoto Kogyo Co., Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Address | 56 Iwakura Minami-ikeda-cho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto 606-0005 |
| Founded | April 1965 |
| Representative | Yoshihiko Fusho, President |
| Business | Design and construction of tea rooms, sukiya, temples, shrines and houses; conservation of National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties |
| Licenses | Construction license, Kyoto Governor (Special-4) No. 12434; first-class architect office (04A) No. 01179 |
| Phone | +81-75-701-6696 |
| Fax | +81-75-701-6393 |
| Hours | 8:00–17:30 (closed Sundays, holidays and over New Year) |
| Specialty | Log-built tea rooms and sukiya; work at the Kyoto State Guest House and the Guimet Museum in Paris; designated contractor of the Kyoto Prefecture cultural-property office |
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