Japanese tea houses, the mistery of the rope tied stones

In front of the entrance of some tea houses or traditional restaurants and on Japanese garden alleys, you may be surprised to see a rock, large enough to be easily noticed, tied carefully with a rope. The rock is carefully selected, usually with a flat bottom and rounded on top, of a dark color, like the one in this photo, taken inside the old samurai neighborhood Nagamachi from Kanazawa.

Called sekimori-ishi (barrier-keeper stone), the rope tied stone has several meanings: that the tea house is occupied and the tea ceremony is underway, or that if you go further up the alley you may intrude. Sometimes, the sekimori-ishi also has a spiritual meaning, marking the entrance to a spiritual space...