Meimei-An Tea Ceremony House

Meimei-An
Meimei-An, which was built by Matsudaira Fumai, is one of the famous tea houses in Japan.  In 1779, whe he was 29 years old, he built Meimei-An over his retainer's house garden in Tono-machi, Matsue City.  In 1928, the Tea house was rebuilt on a hill to the East, next to Kanden-an in Sugata machi.
After World War II, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Matsudaira Fumai's death, Meimei-An was moved to a small mountain near Matsue Castle in 1966 and refurbished.

You can see this view in Meimei-An teahouse.

This entrance is called Nijiriguchi. Here is the final destination from reality to special place. Because of this small entrance, everyone from high status to low must bend over to enter. This creates a humble mood where everyone is equal.

 

As you can see, the entrance to the waiting room is wider than the exit. (there are two girls sitting next to it.) This gives you the feeling that you are going into a special place.

This rock was used to wash hands. It is put next to the entrance to go in the teahouse for noblemans.

 

 We enjoyed drinking matcha here with a wonderful view of the garden from this room. We felt mental fulfillment here.