The Cultural Exchange Center (CEC) is an authentic reproduction of a 19th century Kyoto tea-merchant's house and shop. It was completed in 1991. The timbers were cut using traditional tools and methods. The team of Japanese master carpenters who had built the Japanese Exhibition Room at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York in the mid-1980 was also employed at Hakone. The building was put into four large containers and shipped to Saratoga. The same process of assembly in Japan, disassembly, and then reassembly piece by piece was used as the CEC rose on the prepared site.   Stepping into the CEC, you are first met with an old tea storefront with large ceramic containers, baskets, scales, and cushions in front of Kaidan dansu, a staircase with built-in cabinets. Then you will see one large room meticulously crafted using Japanese joinery technique. Nails are not used. At last you will discover a clean and beautiful tea ceremony room waiting for you to experience the world of tea.   The original plan was to transfer a few-hundred-year-old tea merchant house from Uji, in rural Kyoto, to Saratoga, however the fire regulations of California wouldn't allow it. The architect, Kiyoshi Yasui designed the CEC and an American architect, Warren Heid, his fellow Rotarian, assisted him to comply with California regulations. The result was a well-proportioned beautiful Japanese building. The site that was chosen has some of the best views from the garden to the Santa Clara Valley, and to the Saratoga Gap.   Dr. Morihito Nagai of Inuyama, Gifu Prefecture, and a close friend of Yasui provided seed funding for the Cultural Exchange Center. Nagai donated half of the CEC's construction costs, which was matched by the Foundation. The Center has evolved into one of the favorite indoor gathering places for hosting prominent dignitaries, performers, and artists-in-residence from throughout Japan and Asia who come to Hakone to feature their most recent works of art. With its elegantly tiled roofs, hidden dry gardens, authentic hinoki cypress soaking tub, and ceiling beams from an ancient volcano in Southern Japan, the Center is a showcase of the outstanding Japanese Architectural achievements of the late Edo Period. Museum display cabinets for art, ceramic and other traditional Japanese crafts are exhibited throughout the year.
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