Sekison-tei is the name of the residence where Junichiro Tanizaki lived for seven years from April 1949 to December 1956, from the age of 63 to 70. When the Tanizaki family moved, Nissin Electric took over the property.
Sekison-tei main house and Japanese garden (above) Sekison-tei was the setting for the novel The Bridge of Dreams (right)
The inner gate of Sekison-tei (right) that appeared in an illustration from The Bridge of Dreams (above) (Illustration:Konosuke Tamura)
Sekison-tei, located some 20 minutes from Kyoto Station by car, is the former residence of Junichiro Tanizaki, the leading author of Japanese aesthetic novels, and the setting for The Bridge of Dreams (Yume no ukihashi), a novel published in 1960.
Sekison-tei was the best-loved residence of Tanizaki, who changed homes frequently, moving more than 40 times in his life. He lived there for some seven years from April 1949 to December 1956, from the age of 63 to 70. As I approached the unobtrusive, simply designed, inner gate framed by two cedar posts, I felt as if I had entered a time tunnel and been swept back to the time when Tanizaki lived.
Sekison-tei was built around 1911, and Tanizaki purchased the house in 1949. He lived here in a household with his wife Matsuko, her younger sister Shigeko, and four others and wrote works including The Key (Kagi). When the Tanizaki family moved to Atami in 1956, Tanizaki sold the residence to Nissin Electric, where the husband of a former school friend of Matsuko happened to be an executive. Tanizaki had a request: “Please use it unaltered, because I want to see it when I visit Kyoto.” Respecting his wishes, Nissin Electric has maintained the residence in its original state to this day. Mr. Toshio Kajima, in charge of CSR in the company’s Corporate Administration Dept., says that decisions on repair and restoration to preserve the property were difficult. “Should we restore the residence to its original state or change construction materials to enable maintenance for many years into the future? We had numerous discussions and searched for ways to provide durability to an extent that would not compromise the atmosphere.”
Although ordinarily Sekison-tei is used as a company guesthouse and not open to the public, I was granted permission to gather information for this article. What a great privilege for a mere reporter!
(1) The study, where The Key (Kagi) and other famous works were written.
(2) The drawing room, where Tanizaki met with Naoya Shiga and other literary contemporaries.
(3) A photo of Junichiro Tanizaki taken in the study.
First, I visited the study, located in an annex separated from the main house by a beautiful Japanese garden. The layout enabled Tanizaki to work in a place apart from his residence without leaving his property, an arrangement that is the envy of every freelance writer! The study is an eight-mat (14.56m²) Japanese room. In the center is a desk of the same type as the one used by Tanizaki. It made me feel both uneasy and intrigued to think that the great author himself worked in this room. It was here that Tanizaki dictated a portion of The Key (Kagi), published in 1956 in the literary journal Central Review (Chuokoron). It is said that a secretary seated at a small desk situated at the left rear of the study transcribed the words as Tanizaki spoke them. Tanizaki used a drawing room located to the left rear of the study to meet with friends, including his literary contemporary Naoya Shiga. Apparently, editors who came to pick up manuscripts were not admitted to the study, but rather made to wait at a western-style building located between the study annex and an inner gate.
A garden waterfall and a Rakan statue (above) Bath with a skylight (left)
A connecting passageway that appeared in an illustration from The Bridge of Dreams (left) and a shade-giving trellis covered with Japanese stauntonia beyond (above) (Illustration: Konosuke Tamura)
I was fascinated to learn of Tanizaki’s day-to-day lifestyle. He is said to have been regular in his habits, leaving the main house for the study at 5:00a.m. and leaving the study after work at 5:00p.m. Family members were forbidden to enter the study except for urgent matters, and Tanizaki would hang up a sign that read, “Now writing.” In this way, he completely separated his work from other aspects of his life. Although I’d like to do the same, it’s difficult for someone working in a home office.I vowed to work hard so that I, too, can someday build an annex (lol).
The main house, where Tanizaki lived, is a one-story wooden structure with a tiled roof. A connecting passageway with traditional wooden railings that elegantly curve upward at the corners of the building, which runs from the south side of the main house to the east side, offers a 270-degree view of the Japanese garden. A view from the passageway is depicted in illustrations in the abovementioned The Bridge of Dreams. Since the garden was designed to be appreciated while strolling, the scenery differs according to the viewing angle, and the garden has depth. Water flows from an artificial hillock at the left rear of the garden in a waterfall, passes through a sozu, a fountain with a bamboo tube that clacks against a stone, and flows into a pond. In the southern part of the garden is a shade-giving trellis covered with a Japanese stauntonia vine that blooms with exquisite flowers in the spring.
Intruding into a private area, I was shown the bathroom. It’s a refreshing space imbued with the fragrance of Japanese cypress. A skylight offers a glimpse of the sky. I suppose this is where Tanizaki recovered from the day's fatigue. From my reporting for this article, I discovered the story behind the beauty of Tanizaki’s works and came to appreciate more deeply the allure of his writing.
The words of Mr. Yoshinori Koike of the Corporate Planning Dept. have remained with me: “To Nissin Electric, Sekison-tei symbolizes ‘Integrity, Trust and Long-term Relationships,’ the Principles of Activities.” I hope that Nissin Electric will preserve forever Sekison-tei, whose cultural associations and architectural value are likely to increase with the passage of time, for the sake of Tanizaki fans worldwide.
Nissin Electric manufactures and sells substation equipment, other power system equipment, and other electrical equipment and instruments. Nissin Kogyosha was founded in November 1910 as what is now known as a venture company and incorporated as Nissin Electric Co., Ltd. in 1917. The company marked its centenary in 2017. The name “Nissin,” taken from a Chinese classic, is imbued with the company’s commitment to “continuous and untiring efforts to innovate every day.” Because the company deals with power system equipment, which is heavy machinery whose form cannot be easily changed, making efforts every day is important.
Since Sekison-tei isn’t usually open to the public, we were particularly excited at the prospect of the visit.
As Mr. Tsuboi commented, everything is beautiful wherever you look yet the impression changes depending on where you are at Sekison-tei. If you are in a room in the main house and the shoji sliding door is closed, the view of the garden through the glass panel is framed as though it were a painting. As you stroll through the garden, what you hear or see will change. These attributes appealed to the finely tuned aestheticism of Junichiro Tanizaki, the celebrated author.
He was also very particular in his habits. The Tanizaki family always gathered for dinner at a half past six. Everyone had to dress for dinner and be seated at table in time. Each morning when the fishmonger called with his choice of the day’s catch, Tanizaki went to the kitchen and he himself selected the fish for the dinner’s main dish. The family dinner was the central social occasion around which Tanizaki planned his daily activities.
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