Needless to say, the Japanese tea ceremony is a highly elaborate activity, with a strict etiquette to follow. Therefore, in some cases, before entering the ceremony room, the guests are invited to wait in the garden adjacent to the tea house, in a specially arranged waiting area called koshikake machiai.

Koshikake machiai is a wooden structure with just three walls, provided with wooden benches, as you can glimpse in today’s photo, taken in Mito, at the Kobuntei house. The stepping stone path leads to the tea house.

Kobuntei, Mito

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Japanese modern architecture, Nebuta House