The first thing guests look at when they enter a tea room. It was originally the place where a nobleman sat. Hanging scrolls and flower containers are displayed in the alcove of the tea room. In the early period of chanoyu there were ikkendoko (1ken, about 180cm), haritsuke kabe (narrow strips of paper were pasted to the edges of the wall) and kuronurigamachi (black lacquered crosspiece), but Rikyu made the toko smaller and used clay for the walls (tsuchikabe) and logs for tokogamachi (the crosspiece at the lower front edge of a raised alcove) and so on, so that the toko had a look of wabi (quiet simplicity).