During the Taisho era and early Showa period, when William Merrell Vories and his colleagues were most active, the Waterhouse Memorial Hall and other Vories-associated buildings hosted Western-style cooking classes. Led by Bessie Waterhouse—the wife of Albert Waterhouse—and Kiyono Yoshida—the wife of Etsuzo Yoshida—these classes welcomed local women and became a cherished space for cultural exchange.
Today, at Tea Room – Merrell’s Garden, located within the Waterhouse Memorial Hall, you can savor dishes faithfully recreated from those original recipes, served in the very dining room where the Waterhouses once entertained their guests.
