Sumiya Pleasure House: Jaw-Dropping Traditional Japanese Craftsmanship

The Sumiya Pleasure House is one of the most lavish examples of traditional Japanese architecture and craftsmanship in Kyoto. It is truly from another time. I was captivated by the incredible carpentry and plaster details while wandering through the building. For anyone interested in high end Japanese craftsmanship, this building is a must-see.

Sumiya is incredibly well-preserved. Amazingly, it’s been managed by the same family for 13 generations. It no longer serves the same purpose that it once did — instead, it’s a rare glimpse into a very specific piece of Japanese culture and a testament to the skill of carpenters, plasterers, and craftsmen of the Edo period. I’m fascinated by the history, but the actual carpentry and plaster details are what really moves me.

What is Sumiya?

Sumiya is an ageya, “an elegant restaurant where banquets and dinner parties were held accompanied by the entertainment of geisha and taiyu (premiere geisha), who performed tea ceremonies, sang and danced“. Needless to say, this type of establishment catered to the elites of that era, and the architectural style is opulent. It was built in the mid-1600s. A more recent and fascinating tidbit about Sumiya comes from this site:

Sumiya was almost torn down by the Japanese government for being “too extravagant and ostentatious”. It only narrowly escaped destruction because, as it so happens, many years of lighting the interior with numerous candles had covered and darkened all the surfaces of the rooms with soot. Had the artwork in the rooms been in their original condition with their bright and golden colors, the building almost surely would have been demolished by the government. Sumiya was designated an “Important Cultural Property” by the Japanese government in 1952…

Tour of Sumiya (Downstairs)

Here are some shots of the downstairs floor, which features a huge kitchen with a equally massive kamado (wood fired stove), several entertainment rooms, and one room with a view out to an impeccable garden with teahouses. (The garden is not accessible on the tour.)

One of the first things you’ll notice is this incredibly vivid red clay plaster on the exterior walls facing a small courtyard. The color is gorgeous and the plaster is surprisingly well-preserved.  I was amazed at just how red the clay is.

Step inside and you’ll immediately see the kitchen with beautiful exposed timbers, all blackened with years of smoke. It’s actually quite a huge kitchen, which gives a clue to the types of large gatherings held here many years ago. Just check out that five hole kamado (wood fired stove)!

The kamado alone is worthy of great attention. It’s made from earth, and finished with a polished lime/clay plaster. (I don’t know for sure.) It’s a thing of beauty. I just love that yellow plaster finish.

One of the first entertainment rooms nearest the kitchen is this space, with more of that deep red clay plaster and an immaculate woven ceiling. The shoji screens are very fine as well.

I’m in love with this interior courtyard. This small garden is flanked by a half indoor/half outdoor hallway on either side. Even on the gray day that I visited, the garden let in lots of extra light t the center of the building. What is it about some carefully positioned rocks and perfectly trained trees that can send a chill up your spine?

I don’t know the specific function of the above floor, but I did appreciate the curved beam with an adzed finish.

This small section of wall has a beautiful kyosabi finish. This is clay plaster amended with iron flecks. The iron rusts over time, creating these tiny red spots. I dig it.

This hallway leads to another room with a view out to the garden. The walls have what I think is another otsu finish (a blend of clay and lime, tightly polished). Very fine indeed — you can see the reflective quality of the wall here.

View to the Garden

This room was full of fascinating details, too many to recount here. Most striking of course is the view to the immaculately manicured garden. There’s a shallow engawa immediately outside the sliding shoji doors where you can step out and see the perfectly raked gravel, trained trees, moss, and teahouse. Interestingly, there’s a train track mere feet from the garden that barrels through at a regular interval. I heard that the train track was originally planned to cut right through the current location of Sumiya but the owners convinced them otherwise, leading to a jog in the track. Lucky.

Check out these massive planks on the engawa floor, one of many luscious details throughout.

The engawa, basically an exterior hallway / shallow deck is one of my favorite features of traditional Japanese architecture. There’s something completely captivating about it, and functional too. Anyway, this one was especially nice. I was particularly interested in how the deep roof overhang was supported over the engawa without any upright posts. And these “floating” beams… I don’t totally understand how these worked, but they looked amazing.

The Upstairs Tour of Sumiya

It costs an extra $8 to view the upstairs portion of Sumiya, and there’s no photography allowed up there. Probably because what you can see up there is truly one of a kind, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be to maintain. I was a good rule-abiding tourist and stowed away my camera.

However, you can see glimpses of the upstairs rooms in this short documentary, Kyoto Walls: Elegance Molded from Earth. This is where I actually first learned about Sumiya. Here are some less-than-stellar screen grabs which don’t do any justice to the rooms.

The “fan room” has another really unique clay plaster finish, this time in a steely blue color.

The runaway star of the show for plaster finishes is the mother of pearl room. The entire room is totally blackened with soot, plaster walls included. Thousands of carefully arranged pieces of mother of pearl are embedded in the walls. The effect is spectacular. I’m certain this finish took many, many, many hours to execute. Incredible, and again… much much better to see in person.

If you ever get the chance to travel to Kyoto and want to see top notch plaster and carpentry craftsmanship, please do yourself a favor and visit the Sumiya Pleasure House. Luckily, the upstairs rooms have English explanations written on placards. Otherwise, there is no spoken English at Sumiya.