CHASHITSUTOKYO
Shōkin-tei
Back to results
Tea Room　／　Kyoto

Shōkin-tei

しょうきんてい
Katsura's foremost teahouse, bold with its blue-and-white checkered fusuma and broad hearth; viewable by application.

Katsura Imperial Villa was built from around 1615 as a retreat of the Hachijō-no-miya princely house, shaped over some fifty years by Prince Toshihito and his son Prince Toshitada. Four teahouses are set around its stroll garden and pond. Shōkin-tei is the most formal of them, the teahouse with a full-fledged tea room. Agency records date it to the early Edo period: a single-storey wooden building roofed partly in thatch and partly in tile.

Its interior has fusuma sliding doors in a checkerboard (ichimatsu) pattern, a design closely associated with Katsura.

Standing in the eastern part of the grounds, it looks back across the pond to the Shoin and Geppa-rō in one composed view. North of its front lies a stone arrangement modelled on Amanohashidate, and beyond it the sound of the Tsuzumi Falls. Azaleas and irises bloom in spring, yellow pond lilies in summer, and maples colour the garden in autumn.

GalleryGallery

Shōkin-tei seen across the pond (1967)
Shōkin-tei seen across the pond (1967)Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Roger W
Shōkin-tei beyond the pond (autochrome, 1926–27)
Shōkin-tei beyond the pond (autochrome, 1926–27)Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Dumas Roger
Inside Shōkin-tei, looking out to the garden
Inside Shōkin-tei, looking out to the gardenWikimedia Commons / Public domain / Raphael Azevedo Franca
Nijiri-guchi and windows of the Shōkin-tei tea room (archival photo by Satō Tatsuzō)
Nijiri-guchi and windows of the Shōkin-tei tea room (archival photo by Satō Tatsuzō)Wikimedia Commons / Public domain / 佐藤辰三
Tokonoma and kyūji-guchi (service door) of the Shōkin-tei tea room (archival photo by Satō Tatsuzō)
Tokonoma and kyūji-guchi (service door) of the Shōkin-tei tea room (archival photo by Satō Tatsuzō)Wikimedia Commons / Public domain / 佐藤辰三
Nakabashira post and shelves in the Shōkin-tei tea room (archival photo by Satō Tatsuzō)
Nakabashira post and shelves in the Shōkin-tei tea room (archival photo by Satō Tatsuzō)Wikimedia Commons / Public domain / 佐藤辰三

How to experience itVisit & use

Visit through the Imperial Household Agency's tour system: apply online in advance, or get a timed same-day ticket on site from 8:40 a.m., first come, first served (photo ID required). The teahouses are seen from outside along the tour route.

Book / apply

Apply to visit Katsura Imperial Villa for Shōkin-tei through the site's official page. Please check availability and conditions there.

Apply to visit Katsura Imperial Villa（official page） ↗

Visitor informationInformation

AddressKatsura Misono, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto (Katsura Imperial Villa)
ClosedMondays (the following day if Monday is a holiday), Dec 28–Jan 4, and days with official events
Admission¥1,000 for ages 18+ (free for junior high and high school students). Children below junior high age cannot visit
AccessAbout 20 min walk from Katsura Station (Hankyu Kyoto Line), or 15 min from the Katsura Rikyu-mae bus stop
InquiriesImperial Household Agency Kyoto Office, visitor desk: +81-75-211-1215
Sources (checked 2026年10月)
Photo: Katsura Imperial Villa — the site where this tea room stands, not the room itself. Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 / John Chang
Build a tea room like Shōkin-tei

Compare sukiya builders and architects with their past work.

Find a builder
Nearby rooms
View all
Tai-an
National Treasure· Sen no RikyūBookable
Tai-an
たいあん
Myōki-an, Ōyamazaki, Kyoto／Reservation; exterior view
MittanSite photo
National Treasure· assoc. Kobori Enshū
Mittan
みったん
Ryōkō-in, Daitoku-ji, Kyoto／Generally closed
Bōsen-sekiSite photo
Important Cultural Property· Kobori Enshū
Bōsen-seki
ぼうせんせき
Kohō-an, Daitoku-ji, Kyoto／Generally closed