This house features a tea room that was constructed in Kyoto around two centuries ago, and is said to have been used as a guest house for government dignitaries. It also features another important space: the tatami mat room said to be where the Mitarai Treaty was signed.
During the Bakumatsu Period, the feudal domain of Hiroshima had close ties to the Chōshū domain, and participated in anti-Shogunate activities. On a certain day, Hiroshima and Chōshū gathered warships in Mitarai. It’s said that on that day, representatives from both domains held a meeting in this room, and subsequently sailed for Kyoto that night. An event that led to the end of the Shogunate, ushering in the Meiji Restoration. However, Hiroshima chose to remain neutral during the final battle between the Shogunate and the new regime. This resulted in the new government withholding any acknowledgment of Hiroshima’s efforts, effectively shutting them out of the new regime.
Incidentally, why was such an important meeting held in Mitarai? And what did the parties involved discuss? A port town on a remote island frequented by many was perhaps the right place to engage in clandestine power plays.
