Mizuya (水屋; "water room") is the term for the preparation area in a Japanese tea house (chashitsu) or attached to any venue used for theJapanese tea ceremony. For instance, the area used for preparation during outdoor tea ceremonies is also called themizuya. The termmizuya can also refer to purificatory fonts atshrines andtemples, as well as to storage cupboards for use in kitchens. This article, however, focuses on the tea ceremonymizuya.

The full development ofchadō (the Japanese "Way of Tea") and advent of the independent structure dedicated to and designed for use for this cultural activity is generally attributed to the sixteenth century tea masterSen no Rikyū. With the development of a structure dedicated to receiving guests for this cultural activity, there naturally was the need for a "back room" area for the host to make ready the items to be used for the reception of the guests. Before this, during the early development of the Japanese tea ceremony, corners of large reception rooms were partitioned off for tea-making, and there was no specific area or space designed for the preparations. According to A. L. Sadler, the earliest extant example of a space attached to achashitsu (room intended for the tea ceremony) that is describable as amizuya exists at theTaian, achashitsu designed by Sen no Rikyū.^[1]Mizuya are also mentioned in writings by Sen no Rikyū'schanoyu (tea ceremony) mentor,Takeno Jōō.^[2]

As its name suggests, amizuya provides a location for the performing of tea ceremony-related tasks involvingwater, such as washing thevarious utensils and supplies, and boiling extra water for filling and replenishing the pot in the tea room. Amizuya is also used for the final preparation ofwagashi that will be served during achanoyu function (such as cutting them, arranging them on dishes, and so on); for organizing, preparing, and (in some cases) storing the tea supplies; and, in the case of functions for large groups of people, for quickly preparing many bowls of tea to serve to guests.

The most modest modernmizuya may comprise little more than a hot-plate or electrickettle and several buckets of fresh water, and might be located in a screened-off outdoor area with a grass floor. A fully equipped modern indoormizuya may rival the best-equippedkitchen, with several sinks with hot and cold running water, an elaborate system of storage areas, cupboards, shelves and worktops, a refrigerator, stove, and microwave oven. In practice, however, most fall somewhere in between.

A typical indoormizuya has in it a recess three or four feet wide and two feet deep, themizuyanagashi, possibly with atatami mat in front of it, equipped with a traditional sink, thenagashi (a long metal tub sunk into the floor and covered with abamboo grate calledsunoko), several wooden shelves for storing tea supplies, and a board with pegs for hanging ladles and towels. Where there is no permanent built-inmizuyanagashi with these facilities, a portable unit called anokimizuya may be used. There are manufacturers of such units. Whatever the style and size of this area, it will be kept scrupulously clean and organized, each school having its preferred order of arranging the utensils.

Some tea rooms may have a special type of built-in recessedmizuya cabinet calledmizuya dōko (水屋洞庫). It is built into the wall of the tea room, at floor level, on the side where the host's mat is situated, and has sliding doors so that it can be closed from view of the guests. A plaindōko lacks the water drainage facility that amizuya dōko features, and therefore functions differently from amizuya dōko. Bothdōko andmizuya dōko are innovations meant for the use of hosts who have difficulty walking and getting up and down from theseiza sitting position, such as the elderly in particular.^[3]

According to A. L. Sadler, the namedōko is taken from the boxes in which strolling puppeteers kept their dolls, and was first borrowed bySen no Rikyū.Dōko were first placed on the floor, then hung on the wall, and finally built in.^[4]

• Image of a small built-inmizuya
• Image of built-inmizuya at Doyu-an
• View of the mainmizuya at the Urasenke Konnichian historical tea room complex, Kyoto

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• Architecture in Japan
• Rooms

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