Iori Machiya Gion shinmonzen

The Gion Shinbashi area including Shinmonzen street began in 1712 as a traditional teahouse entertainment district area. Running in front of the Chion-in temple's massive gate ("monzen" literally mean "in front of the gate"), Shinmonzen used to be lined with many tea ceremony utensil shops. Now, the street is lined with numerous antique shops, creating a unique atmosphere amongst the traditional teahouses of northern Gion.
The Iori Gion shinmonzen townhouse was originally a flower shop called "Hanaiwa," that delivered and decorated flowers for the teahouses and bars of Gion. We restored the old shopfront facade with a traditional slatted "mushiko mado" window on the mezzanine level, and a show window with fine lattice-work wood facade on the ground level. These patterns combine to give a delicately elegant effect to the front of the house.
On entering the living room area from the spacious sunken entrance-room (originally the shopfront), the first thing you see is a dramatic high open ceiling, criss-crossed with the original rough-hewn rafter beams. During daytime, sunshine pours down from skylights, creating a sense of airy open space in the living room. In the evening, the warm colors of the wooden floor and the uplit beams give the room a feeling of calm repose.
In restoring the Gion shinmonzen house, we took care to maintain the traditional elements (the open beam ceiling, original hako kaidan stairs with built in cabinets, and small tsubo niwa inner garden). At the same time we aimed to add many unique and luxurious touches, using for instance large Shigaraki pottery bowls for the bathroom sinks.

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