A replica of a golden tearoom that renowned warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi used to flaunt his power more than four centuries ago is now available for ordinary folk to sample the joys of traditional tea ceremony.
Completed at a cost of 36 million yen ($268,000), it offers visitors a rare glimpse of late 16th century Momoyama Period culture.
For a fee, the Saga Prefectural Nagoya Castle Museum allows visitors to sip matcha green tea inside the space, which boasts a red floor and is just three “tatami” mats in size, or 4.9 square meters.
The replica was created based on historical records kept by the Karatsu-based museum. The project took about six months until March 2022.
According to the museum, Hideyoshi (1537-1598) first used the room for tea ceremony…
