Japanese Tea House and Town House

Client

Boston Children’s Museum

Project description

A gift to the City of Boston from the City of Kyoto on the 20th anniversary of their sister city relationship in 1979, the original Japanese tea house began as a one-room installation at the Boston Children’s Museum. When the museum moved to its wharf location, it was replaced by a two-story townhouse: “Shipped in crates from Japan and then painstakingly rebuilt by a team of Japanese carpenters in the raw warehouse space of the new building, this extraordinary artifact and environment made the Japanese Program a centerpiece of the museum’s expanding presence regionally, nationally and internationally” (from Boston Stories, a series of reflections curated by former museum director Mike Spock).

Michael’s specific role in the museum’s Japan programming, if any, is unknown.