The plan below shows a front-doma type (mae-doma-gata 前土間型) three-room layout (san-madori 三間取り) minka in the ‘Yogo style’ (Yogo-kata 余呉型), after the lake and surrounding district where this style is found. These minka, also commonly known as koma-iri (小間入り) in the dialect of the area, belong to the ‘Hokuriku lineage’ (Hokuriku-kei 北陸系) of minka layouts, though technically Yogo, in northern Shiga Prefecture, lies just outside (to the south) of the Hokuriku region.
Plan of a Yogo style front-doma three room layout minka in the Kohoku region of northern Shiga Prefecture. Labelled are the entry doma (iri-guchi doma 入口土間) niwa (にわ), laid with mats (mushiro むしろ) and slatted panels (sunoko すのこ), with shelves (tana タナ), sink (hashiri はしり), bath (furo ふろ), and firewood (maki 薪), for cooking (suiji 炊事), farmwork (nо̄-sagyо̄ 農作業), and feed preparation (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整); the stable (maya まや) for keeping livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育), and an annex with hay store (kusa-iri 草入), toilet (benjo 便所) and urinal (shо̄ben 小便); the ‘living room’ (daidoko だいどこ), originally (moto 元) earth-floored (doma 土間) with firepit (irori いろり) and storage area for family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財収納), for food preparation (shokuji chо̄sei), eating (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), and entertaining visitors (о̄tai 応対); the zashiki (ざしき) with decorative alcove (toko とこ) and Buddhist altar (butsudan, marked 卍), for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), and sleeping (shūshin 就寝), and the bedroom (nema ねま) with storage area for family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財収納), for sleeping (shūshin 就寝) and storage (shūnо̄ 収納). Also labelled are the central post (naka-bashira 中柱), sliding doors (to と) and sills (shi し), and board wall (ita-kabe 板かべ). Most of the exterior is fully plastered (о̄-kabe 大かべ).
The standard or typical scale of these minka is a width (ma-guchi 間口) of four ken (one ken 間 is 1.818m) and length (oku-yuki 奥行) of six ken, giving a total floor area of about 80m². The central post (naka-bashira 中柱) at the intersection of the rooms and the four jо̄ya posts (jо̄ya-bashira上家柱) on the front and rear edges of the ‘living room’ (daidoko だいどこ) are together called the go-dan (五段, lit. ‘five ranks’), and in this example are made of the hardwood kurogi (黒木, Symplocos kuroki). The external walls are fully plastered (nuri-gome 塗籠) to protect against the cold. The house dates from the early Edo period (1603 - 1868), and its adze-finished (chо̄na-shiage ちょうな仕上げ) timbers and other characteristics lend an atmosphere of age to every part of the building.
Interior view of the same front doma three-room layout minka as shown in the plan above. The room with the irori in the foreground is the daidoko; behind it is the nema on the right and the zashiki on the left, with the naka-bashira (with clock) marking the boundary between them. They are enclosed with board partitions (itado 板戸), though only one partition (the centre leaf) to each room is operable, the others being fixed (hame-koroshi 嵌殺し). A simple shrine (kami-dana 神棚) is suspended from the lintel (kamoi 鴨居).
Behind the central point where the partitions come together are the bedroom (nema ねま) and formal room (zashiki ざしき); in front of these rooms and bounding the doma (here called the niwa にわ) is the dropped-floor (ochi-ma 落ち間, lit. ‘dropped space’) daidoko (だいどこ), with a floor level a step lower than that of the nema and zashiki. After world war two, the daidoko or niuji (にうじ) was remodelled by laying a board floor; prior to this the floor was spread with rice husks (momigara 籾殻 or nuka 糠). Perhaps as a reminder of this older ‘earth-living’ (doza-sumai 土座住まい) arrangement, the custom is to keep the niwa swept very clean, spread it with mats, and take footwear off at the entrance before going in.
The boundary between daidoko and niwa is open, marked only by a ground sill (usually jifuku 地覆 lit. ‘ground cover’, here called bugi 分木 lit. ‘divide timber’). The sills (shikii 敷居) at boundary between the rear of the daidoko and the other two rooms have three grooves to take the sliding partitions, but the leaves immediately adjacent to the central post are fixed (hame-goroshi 嵌殺し) and only the ‘outer’ leaves to each room are openable. Likewise, between nema and zashiki there is a single-leaf sliding board partition. The nema is extremely close, with only a small high window. The built-in alcove (toko とこ) and dedicated space for the Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇, marked 卍 on the plan) in the zashiki are later additions: originally the zashiki, like the nema, was partly board-floored, and equipped with butsudan, ‘protective talisman’ (shugo-rei 保護礼) and the like; the zashiki did not develop a storage area like that seen in other parts of the house. In front of the utility entrance is a deep, old-fashioned barrel-type steam bath (mushi-buro 蒸し風呂) with a lid.
The development path for this type of minka is that the rear, ‘habitable’ rooms evolve into a regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori 整形四間取り), which together with the daidoko form a five-room layout known as kuni-naka-sumai (国中住まい); further, a room may be added to the rear as an annex, called ittou-zukuri (一棟造り); or, a projecting zashiki is appended to the side of the building, resulting in a tsunoya-zukuri (つのや造り); or two projections may develop, resulting in a ‘twin tsunoya’ structure (ryо̄-tsunoya-zukuri 両つのや造り).
These four plans indicate the path of development of the Yogo style front-doma three-room layout. The first plan is the starting point, with doma (marked sa 詐), living room (daidoko, marked dai 台), zashiki (marked za 座), and bedroom (nema, marked ne 寝). In the second plan, two rooms are added to the rear, resulting in a five-room layout known as kuni-naka sumai (国中住まい), with zashiki, two nema, and a ‘living room’ (ima, marked i 居). Then (in the third plan) an additional zashiki might be added as a ‘leg’ at the front to form an L-plan minka known as tsunoya-zukuri (つのや造り); an ittou-zukuri (一棟造り) annex may also be added; or two legs might be added at the rear (ryо̄-tsunoya-zukuri (両つのや造り, the fourth plan), with another ‘living room’ (omote 表) and a formal entry vestibule (genkan, marked gen 玄).