Carpenters, architects, kit makers, drop-in rooms. Our 29 listed companies fall into six kinds — and what you want decides where to go.
When you first think 'I want a tea room,' the thing you stumble on is: who do you even ask? For an ordinary house it's a builder or a housing maker. For a tea room there are rather more doors.
The 29 companies listed on CHASHITSU TOKYO today fall into six kinds. Holding this map first saves a lot of detours.
[1] Full sukiya carpentry firms (13) — They keep sukiya carpenters in house and handle everything from design to construction. Nakamura Sotoji Komuten (founded 1931) and Yamanaka Komuten (founded 1909, purveyor to Daitoku-ji) are among them. They can build one-of-a-kind work, but they also cost the most and take the longest.
[2] Design offices (5) — They handle design and pair with specialist carpenters for the build. A good option when the room must meet an existing building, or when you want a contemporary hand.
[3] Kit-built (4) — Parts are made in a factory and assembled on site. The great advantage is that you know the price up front. Millième (Kyoto), for instance, publishes its prices: ¥4,180,000 including tax for a four-and-a-half-mat room (delivery not included) and ¥3,300,000 for a two-mat room. With bespoke work you cannot see the total until an estimate arrives; with a kit, the ceiling is visible first.
[4] Drop-in and standard products (2) — Rooms that sit on your floor. Kato Biken (Ito, Shizuoka; established 1972) writes on its site that a drop-in tea room can go 'in a corner of the living room for those in a condominium, or into a spare room after the children have grown.' It is the way in if you want to avoid major building work.
[5] Materials and construction (1) — Matsubun Shoten (Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto) is a specialist in fine timber and sukiya materials, and builds as well. It has supplied materials for the Kyoto State Guest House, the Katsura Imperial Villa, and the restoration of Ninna-ji's Shorin-an.
[6] Companies based overseas (4) — Yokoso Japanese Gardens (Boskoop, the Netherlands; its woodwork brand Sukiyado is the same company) and Ki Arts (USA, founded 1985). These are your door if the tea room is going outside Japan. 8 of the Japan-based listings also take overseas work.
A rough guide to choosing: if you want something one of a kind, go to [1] or [2]. If you want the budget and schedule fixed first, go to [3] or [4]. If you simply want a place to practise tea in a room you already have, [4] is the shortest path.
You can filter the listed companies by region, price band, type and overseas capability. If several appeal, send them all the same brief and compare what comes back.
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