Golden Tea Room

In the 1580s, as Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeated a large number of opposing samurai clans, he also gained more control over precious metal mines.

[1] Historians typically assume that the room was completed around or shortly before that date, probably expressly for the first official visitor that Hideyoshi hosted as regent.

After this crowning inauguration, Hideyoshi would exhibit his most precious special tea tools (meibutsuki) in the room and give tours of it to his guests.

For the sliding doors, silk fabric uses the paulownia floral patterns favoured by Hideyoshi, which were modeled after karakami printed paper from the Ko-shoin of the Katsura Imperial Villa.

200-year old Japanese cypress wood was used, along with 15,000 sheets of 23K gold leaf, weighing a total of 26.10 kilograms (57.5 lb), which was applied by hand.

[17][18] Historical records by court nobles, warriors, tea ceremony masters, and Jesuit missionaries document the room's appearance,[10][19] such as those by Kamiya Sōtan, Yoshida Kanemi, and Ōtomo Sōrin.

Many warriors who came from provinces outside of the capital did not have deep contacts with the subdued and restrained courtly aesthetics, but searched for something that was more reflective of their character and life experiences.

A shift in usage of colours, patterns, materials, and gold started already under the predecessor Oda Nobunaga, and was a hallmark of the Azuchi–Momoyama period.

[3] The shift is represented in the new architectural style of Azuchi Castle and the Jurakudai residence in the Momoyama district of Kyoto, which gave the period its name.

[23] The historic event of the regent presenting tea to the emperor in the room, and the ultimately conflicting relationship between Hideyoshi and his teamaster is shown in the 1989 film Rikyu, by Hiroshi Teshigahara.