The plan below is of a ‘transverse lineup’ type (jūretsu-gata 縦列型) minka in Mie Prefecture. Though it is a two-room layout (ni-madori ニ間取り), part of the earth-floored utility area (often doma 土間 but here called the niwa にわ) has been transformed into a raised timber floor to be used as a ‘dining room’ (daidoko だいどこ). This area is an open space that lacks the character of a full room, with no partitions or posts dividing it from the niwa, and so the plan is not classified as a three-room layout, though it comes close.
A ‘transverse lineup’ type (jūretsu-gata 縦列型) two-room layout (ni-madori ニ間取り) plan of a minka in Mie Prefecture.
Labelled in the main plan are: firewood storage (netsuryо̄ okiba 熱量置場) and bath entry (nyū-yoku 入浴); the various earth-floored utility areas: the niwa (にわ) for food preparation (shokumotsu chо̄sei 食物調整) and with shelves (todana 戸棚), sink (nagashi ナガシ), and water (mizu 水); the ‘front niwa’ (mae-niwa 前にわ) for agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 農作業) and feed preparation (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整) and with entrance doma (iriguchi doma 入口土間), main entrance (о̄do 大戸, lit. ‘big door’) and an unfixed low platform called an oki-kura 置座, lit. ‘put seat’); the ‘earth-sitting’ (土座) and presumably mat-floored stove area (kamaza かまざ) with ‘big stove’ (о̄-kama 大カマ); and the stable (umaya うまや) for raising livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育) and composting (taihi zо̄sei 堆肥造成); and the raised timber-floored areas: the ‘dining area’ (daidoko だいどこ), spread with mats (mushiro-jiki 莚敷), for dining (shokuji 食事) family time (danran 団らん) hand-work (te-shigoto 手仕事), housework (kaji 家事), and receiving visitors (о̄tai 応対); the formal room (usually zashiki 座敷, here dei でい) with closet (oshi-ire 押入) and Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇, marked with swastika manji 卍), for ‘events’ (gyо̄-ji 行事), entertaining guests (sekkyaku 接客) and sleeping (shūshin 就寝); and the bedroom (oku おく) for sleeping and storage of family valuables (kazai shūnо̄ 家財収納). Mie Prefecture.
Labelled in the smaller plans: shin 寝 bedroom, za 座 formal room, dai 台 dining room, kama 釜 stove area, ushi 牛 stable, and i 居 ‘living room’.
The three smaller plans below the main plan show the various stages in the transformation of this layout into one of five or six rooms. First, the open daidoko is partitioned off into a proper room, and another room, the ‘living room’ (ima 居間, abbr. i 居) is added, resulting in a staggered four-room layout (kui-chigai yon-madori 食違い四間取り); this then develops into a regular (seikei 整形) five- or six-room layout (go-ma kara roku-madori ５間～６間取り) with the addition of two zashiki (座敷, abbr., za 座) rooms to the west (assuming south is at the bottom of the plan), with the daidoko in the five-room example shown now as an irregular appendage to the four regularly-arranged rooms.
There are minka on the Shima Peninsula (Shima-hantо̄ 志魔半島) in Mie Prefecture in which the ‘raised floor transformation’ has achieved its maximum development and the doma has been reduced to a small ‘step-in’ entrance area (fumi-komi 踏込み). An unusual aspect of these houses is that the stove (kamado かまど) and firepit (irori いろり) are located in a mat-spread (mushiro-jiki 莚敷) ‘earth-sitting’ (doza keishiki 土座形式) area at the rear of the stable (umaya-oku 廐奥). Floor plan development in this type of minka is as follows: partitions are added at the boundary of the doma to form a ‘dining room’ (daidokoro or daidoko); in front of this a ‘lower formal room’ (shimo-zashiki 下座敷) is added; the plan becomes a staggered four-room plan (kui-chigai yon-madori 食違い四間取り); then to the shimo-zashiki an ‘upper’ zashiki for receiving guests (sekkyaku-bu 接客部) is appended as a kagi-zashiki (鍵座敷, lit. ‘key zashiki’), i.e. a zashiki that protrudes from the main rectangular body of the plan, resulting in a type of L-plan (kagi-ya 鍵家, lit. ‘key house’) known as kagi-zashiki keishiki (鍵座敷形式, lit. ‘key zashiki type’; also known as kagi-za-gata 鍵座型, or simply kagi-za 鍵座 for short) in which the kagi-zashiki room forms the short leg of the ‘L’. The final form of the plan’s development is a regular six-room layout (seikei roku-madori 整形六間取り). The kagi-zashiki is appointed with formal alcove (tokonoma 床の間) and shelves (tana 棚), ample closets (oshi-ire 押入), and is completed with a ‘verandah’ (engawa 縁側).
A transformation of a similar nature occurred in the very old and famous Hakogi house (Hakogi-ke jūtaku 箱木家住宅), a minka in Hyо̄go Prefecture.
Plan of the Hakogi house as appeared after many centuries of additions and alterations and before it was restored. It is a regular six-room layout, with seventh three-mat room projecting out into the large niwa (にわ).
Plan of the Hakogi house after it was restored to its presumed near-original state, with adjacent detached structure (hanare 離れ) formed by removing the middle two rooms. The main house is a ‘front zashiki’ type (mae-zashiki keishiki 前座敷形式) three-room layout (san-madori 三間取り) and consists of the earth-floored niwa (にわ) and stable (umaya うまや), and the three raised-floor rooms: the ‘dining room’ (daidoko だいどこ), ‘bedroom’ (nando なんど), and ‘living room’ or ‘front room’ (omote おもて).
Exterior view of the southern façade of the Hakogi house, with detached outbuilding (hanare) to the left.
Interior view of the Hakogi house, taken from the niwa and looking towards the daidoko on the right and the omote on the left.
The Hakogi house was originally a ‘transverse lineup’ (jūretsu-gata 縦列型) two-room (ni-madori 二間取り) plan. There are (or were) other minka with similar plan-forms in the area; the plan below represents one example. The lack of concordance between the post divisions (柱割り hashira-wari) and the modern tatami mat divisions (tatami-wari 畳割り), the adze-finished (chо̄na-shiage ちょうな仕上げ) timber members, and the stonework (ishi-tsumi 石積み) beneath the floor are all indications that this, like the Hakogi house, is a very old minka.
The larger plan is of a two-room (ni-shitsu ２室) ‘transverse lineup’ (jūretsu-gata 縦列型) minka in the Hokusetsu district (Hokusetsu chihо̄ 北摂地方) in Hyо̄go Prefecture. Labelled are: the utility area (niwa にわ), with entry area (iriguchi doma 入口土間), door (to 戸), a stone called the urakachi ishi (ワラカチ石, lit. ‘???? stone’), rice winnowing machine (tо̄mi 唐箕), stove (kudo くど), lever mortar (kara-usu カラウス), sink (nagashi ナガシ), water (mizu 水), for agricultural work (nо̄sagyо̄ 濃作業), food preparation (shokumotsu chо̄sei 食物調整), and food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯貯蔵); the zashiki ざしき with board (ita 板) floor and board partitions (ita-do 板戸), for ‘events’ (gyо̄ji 行事), entertaining guests (sekkyaku 接客), and sleeping (shūshin 就寝); the dining room (daidokoro だいどころ), open (hо̄kai 開放) to the niwa, with firepit (irori いろり) and shelves (todana 戸棚), for eating (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), receiving visitors (о̄tai 応対), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事) in the evenings (yoru 夜); the fully plastered (nurigome ぬりごめ) bedroom (heya へや), for husband and wife’s sleeping (fūfu shūshin 夫婦就寝); and the open (hо̄kai 開放) verandah (engawa 縁側, not labelled), for handwork and receiving visitors during the day (hiru 昼).
The five smaller plans illustrate the layout development (madori no hatten 間取りの発展) and enlargement of the minka. In the first plan the two-room transverse lineup (ni-shitsu jūretsu-gata２室縦列型) gains a bedroom (寝) in addition to the original dining room (台), zashiki (座), niwa, and stable (牛); in the second plan, it gains another bedroom and a partition to the niwa; in the third plan, it gains a second zashiki, a ‘walk-in closet’ (入), an enclosed verandah, and a third, rear entrance, to become a five (or six if you count the closet) room layout; in the fourth plan, it becomes a six-room layout proper, with one of the zashiki becoming a living room (居), the appearance of a raised-floor ‘vestibule’ or genkan (玄), and the relocation of the sink; finally, in the fifth plan, we arrive at a regular (seikei 整形) six-room (roku-madori ６間取り) L-plan (tsunoya-zukuri つのや造り), where the bedrooms are separated by storage (shūnо̄ 収納) and the zashiki is extended out to form the short leg of the ‘L’.
To protect against the cold and prevent drafts, the external walls to the bedroom (heya へや) are fully plastered. Walls in which the timber structure is fully covered with plaster or cladding are called о̄-kabe (大壁, lit. ‘big wall’) and are by far the most common external wall method in modern residential building in Japan, but in traditional Japanese architecture о̄-kabe external walls are more typically associated with storehouses, castles, etc., in contrast to the half-timbered (shin-kabe 真壁, lit. ‘true wall’ or ‘real wall’) walls generally found on minka. In some areas where ‘plastering in’ (nuri-gome 塗り籠め) the bedroom in this way is the custom, the bedroom itself has come to be referred to metonymically by the name nuri-gome.
Detail plans showing the three main types of wall (kabe 壁) construction; a single post (hashira 柱) is shown to represent the timber structure. On the left, о̄-kabe (大壁) on both exterior and interior sides; in the middle, shin-kabe (真壁) on both exterior and interior sides; on the right, о̄-kabe on (presumably) the exterior and shin-kabe (真壁) on the interior.
The transverse division (jūretsu-gata 縦列型) three-room (san-madori 三間どり) minka that are widely distributed across the Hokusetsu (北摂) region (northern О̄saka Prefecture, inland south-eastern Hyо̄go Prefecture) and the Tanba (丹波) region (central Kyо̄to Prefecture, north-eastern Hyо̄go Prefecture, part of О̄saka Prefecture), are thought to have this type of ni-madori layout as their prototype. The path of development of this plan-form is as follows: originally a two-room plan (ni-madori 二間取り), a bedroom (heya へや) has been created by partitioning off a corner of the dining room (daidokoro だいどころ). The line of the bedroom is extended ‘vertically’ (transversely) to form a partition, giving a ‘front zashiki’ layout (mae-zashiki keishiki 前座敷形式); then the zashiki is divided, resulting in a regular six-room plan (seikei roku-madori 整形六間取り). In this stage the bedroom (shinshitsu 寝室) gains storage areas like closets (oshi-ire 押入) and shelves (todana 戸棚), and the zashiki (座敷) is equipped with formal features such as the decorative alcove (toko 床) and shelves (tana 棚). If the further formality of a separate guest reception room (sekkyaku-bu 接客部) is required, an L-shaped plan (tsuno-ya つのや or kagi-ya 鍵家) is adopted.
The complexity and extent of the transformations of these timber-framed structures show how adaptable and dynamic they were, and are a reminder that ‘renovation’ is not just a modern phenomenon. Because many restored minka survive today as static museum pieces, it is easy to forget that they were once lived-in houses, constantly evolving as demands and conditions required.