Discover Aman’s love letter to the Japanese tea house in Kyoto

Picture earthen walls in local soils, tree bark visible on wooden carpentry, intricately woven ceilings, aromatic tatami flooring, calligraphic abstractions on scrolls, and the sound of bamboo on ceramic as matcha is ceremoniously whisked by a kimono-clad tea master.

Timeless, traditional, contemporary – and deeply serene. All these words can be applied to Senkutsu, a new tea house sitting inside the scenic gardens of Aman Kyoto on the mountainous northwestern edges of the city.

Aman Kyoto unveils Tea House Senkutsu

A smooth balance of past and present, the tea house was brought to life by Norio Toyama, an architect from Kyoto-based Sen Art Studio, renowned for creating traditional sukiya-style tea room architecture for modern times.

Tapping into the craftsmanship eco-system that has long sustained Japan’s traditional architecture, Toyama worked with a constellation of around 30 artisans specialising in different fields – from tsuchikabe soil wall makers to bamboo experts, as well as Nakamura Sotoji Komuten, a deeply respected sukiya carpentry company.

As a result, Senkutsu ticks all the boxes of a textbook traditional tea house – the garden pathway, softly transitioning between outside world and inner sanctum; a pared-back elimination of excess and simplicity of form; a nature-based material palette (wood, soil, stone, paper, bamboo); and a deep-rooted harmony with the natural landscape that surrounds it.

Upon closer inspection, however, modern touches shift into focus – as reflected in one room in particular, which is dedicated to a more casual-style tea ceremony, with raised seats and tables (so no kneeling or shoe removal required), all expressed through quality traditional craftsmanship.

‘I designed the tea house as though it’s been here for a very long time,’ says Toyama, while taking Wallpaper* around the space. ‘The architectural method is very traditional, yet the aesthetics are a fusion. There are soil walls and a small mat room space, but there is also a more casual space with tables.’

Tea House Senkutsu is reached after walking down a wide moss-covered pathway that cuts through the lushly forested garden that sits at the heart of Aman Kyoto, which opened its doors in 2019 (and won a Wallpaper* Design Award in 2020).

Upon approaching the tea house, a tilted puzzle of tiled roofs can be seen among the trees, alongside a light bamboo fence and a boulder-strewn pathway leading to the entrance.

Guests can first step into the Ryu-rei area, where everything has been raised for comfort, creating a less formal tea ceremony experience. Chairs and tables sit alongside an elevated tokonoma – a soft-edged mirror-smooth laquer-based alcove where a calligraphic scroll reading setsu-getsu-ka (snow, moon, flower) sits alongside a small hanging vase with a camellia bud mirroring early winter.

A glance up reveals angled layers of intricately crafted bamboo and wood ceilings in three varying styles – from woven and layered to a stitched-style – each one gently demarcating a different spatial function directly beneath it: the host area, the guest area and the entrance area.

Solid timber structures, with bark surface knots intact, were crafted from Kitayama cedar while artisans created a traditional compacted earthen floor known as tataki, enabling guests to keep on their shoes while visiting.

Another key detail is the walls: traditional tsuchikabe walls are handcrafted from an unusually dark-toned blackish soil known as kurojuraku, sourced near Nijo Castle in Kyoto.

‘Black is a key theme,’ adds Toyama, whose company, Sen Art Studio, was established in 1953 by the third son of a famed 14th-century grand master in the Urasenke school of tea. ‘Aman’s signature colour is black, which is why I chose this soil.’

Just next door is a second tea room space: Koma. Steeped in more traditional aesthetics, guests slip off their shoes outside before stepping up on a boulder and entering via a small tea room doorway known as a nijiriguchi.

Inside, a stillness descends: sunlight is softened by a medley of washi paper windows with geometric bamboo frames cut into tsuchikabe walls crafted from soil sourced from the local Takagamine area near the hotel, resulting in a rough texture with a slightly reddish tinge.

Here, guests kneel on tatami flooring as a sliding arced door of washi paper slowly slides open as the tea master glides in, dressed in a kimono, and time slows as a traditional tea ceremony begins, with traditional seasonal wagashi and freshly whisked matcha presented with a gentle bow.

‘Traditional aesthetics and connection to nature are very important,’ says Toyama san. ‘Every material, detail and design has a meaning and a story. I hope it creates a sense of beauty and wonder.’

Akane Murakami, marketing and communications manager for Aman Kyoto, adds: ‘Aman always respects local culture. We wanted guests here to have a true and authentic experience of local culture. The feeling of tea – chanoyu – is like the art of everything that Japanese culture represents. So it has long been our dream to have a tea house here.’

Aman Kyoto is located at 1 Okitayama Washimine-cho, Kita Ward, Kyoto, 603-8458, Japan