Mizuya

This is the place where preparations for the tea ceremony are made, and is an essential facility for the tea room. It is also called katte or katte mizuya, and may have a kitchen or a cooking room attached to it. In Chado Sentei (1816), it is written that "there is no such thing as water, it is stored on the veranda," but in a drawing of the four-and-a-half-mat room of Jo'o, as conveyed by Yamanoue Soji, there is a bamboo slatted border at one end of the room, and in one corner, "water use hashiri" is written. It is thought that the early mizuya was thus equipped with only a hashiri (sink), with appropriate shelves placed to display utensils.

The mizuya of the Manshu-in teahouse (Hassoken) from the early Edo period conveys the simple style of the early period, with just a sink and a closet. Eventually a shelf was built in above the sink to form the mizuya-tana. An old example of a kitchen with a mizuya-tana is that of Toushin-tei, which is said to have been the preference of Emperor Gomizuno-in, and it has a temporary shelf one ken wide and a bamboo edging. The teahouse at Rikyu Juraku's mansion also had a built-in mizuya-tana. An old example of a mizuya in the Rikyu style is Minoan, built in 1742 (Kanpo 2).

The basic type of mizuya-dana has a width of 3 shaku (approximately 91 cm) to 4 shaku 5 sun, a depth of about 2 shaku, and a sink below which is surrounded by boards and bamboo nails for hanging tea towels and tea whisks. A double shelf is built into the sink, and the lower level is a bamboo-sandwiched shelf. Another double shelf is hung in one corner above the upper shelf. Bamboo nails are hammered into the pillars for hanging hand towels. The sink is covered with copper and connected to the drain, and a white bamboo sink is placed on it. A storage space is provided on either the left or right side of the mizuya-dana, or a closet is also built. There are rules regarding the way the bamboo nails are hammered in according to the style. Although it is a fixture in the kitchen, the mizuya decorations form a truly orderly and beautiful composition. The term mizuya is also used to simply refer to the mizuya-dana. In addition to the mizuya-dana, kitchens also have round hearths, long hearths, and closets. Rikyu is said to have said, "A one-and-a-half-tatami room is better than a six-tatami room," and "A one-and-a-half-tatami room with a wide outside kitchen is worse than having the bottom slip out." ("Chado Izumigusa") Influenced by the Oyose tea ceremony, large mizuya rooms have become popular in modern tea rooms.

[Masaaki Nakamura]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

茶事の準備を整える場所で、茶室には欠くことのできない施設である。勝手、勝手水屋とも称され、台所または料理所が付属することもある。『茶道筌蹄(ちゃどうせんてい)』（1816）に「水遣むかしはなし、縁側などにて仕舞し也(なり)」とみえるが、山上宗二(やまのうえそうじ)の伝えた紹鴎(じょうおう)四畳半の図には、四畳半の端に竹の簀子縁(すのこえん)があり、その一隅に「水ツカウハシリ」と記入されていた。このように「ハシリ」（流し）だけで、器物は適宜棚を置いて並べるというのが初期の水屋の姿であったと考えられる。

　江戸時代初期の曼殊(まんしゅ)院茶室（八窓軒(はっそうけん)）の水屋は、流しのほかに押入れがあるだけで初期の簡素な形式を伝えている。やがて流しの上に棚を造り付け水屋棚が形成される。水屋棚を備えた勝手の古い実例は後水尾(ごみずのお)院の好みと伝える燈心(とうしん)亭のそれで、間口(まぐち)1間(けん)の仮置棚と竹の簀子縁が付加されている。利休聚楽(じゅらく)屋敷の茶室でも造り付けの水屋棚が設けられていた。利休流の水屋の古い実例としては1742年（寛保2）造立の蓑庵(さあん)をあげることができる。

　水屋棚の基本型は、間口3尺（約91センチメートル）～4尺5寸、奥行2尺程度、下は簀子流しで、その周りは板張りとし茶巾(ちゃきん)、茶筅(ちゃせん)などをかける竹釘(くぎ)を打つ。流しの上方に二重棚を造り付け、下段は竹を挟んだ簀子棚とする。上棚の上方の一隅にさらに二重棚を吊(つ)る。柱には手拭(てぬぐい)掛けの竹釘を打つ。流しは銅板張りで排水口に連結し、白竹の簀子を置く。水屋棚の左右いずれかに物入れを設けるか、あるいは天袋をつくる。竹釘の打ち方など流儀の約束がある。勝手の設備とはいえ、水屋飾りは実に整然とした構成美を形づくっている。水屋の呼称は単に水屋棚をさしても使われている。勝手には水屋棚のほか丸炉や長炉、押入れなども設けられる。利休は「一畳半ノ勝手ハ六畳敷吉」「一畳半ノ外勝手ノ広キハ底ノヌケタル様ニテ悪」（『茶道和泉草』）と説いたという。現代の茶室では大寄(おおよせ)の茶の影響もあって広い水屋が歓迎されるようになった。

［中村昌生］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例