After looking at front-doma type three-room layouts (mae-doma gata san-madori 前土間型三間取り) last week, in this post we will consider the other main three-room layout type, the hiroma type (hiroma-gata 広間型), which can be thought of as a front-doma layout in which the entrance has been moved from the gable end (tsuma-gawa 妻側) to the long side (hira-gawa 平側) of the building, i.e. hiroma-gata minka are side entry (hira-iri 平入り) buildings, as opposed to the gable entry (tsuma-iri 妻入り) mae-doma gata. The hiroma-gata is a ‘fundamental’ layout, the predominant layout in most regions of Japan, with the exception of the Kinki (近畿) region.
A famous example of the hiroma-type three-room layout (hiroma-gata san-madori 広間型三間取り) is the former Kitamura residence (Kitamura-ke 北村家). The house bears an ink inscription reading ‘Jо̄kyо̄ 4’ (Jо̄kyо̄ shi-nen 貞享四年), which is 1687 in the Western calendar, making it the second-oldest minka in eastern Japan, at least of all minka whose age can be confirmed. It has been moved from its original location in Kanagawa Prefecture to the Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum (Nihon Minka-en 日本民家園) in Kawasaki City, and is designated an important cultural property.
Exterior view of the facade of the former Kitamura residence.
The layout consists of a central hiroma (ひろま) running the full width of the house; further ‘up’ from the hiroma is the ‘formal’ room (zashiki 座敷), called here the oku (おく); and to the rear of the oku there is the bedroom (heya へや). ‘Down’ from the hiroma is a large doma (土間) called the daidokoro (だいどころ), which serves both as an entry and a place for agricultural and other work, and is equipped with a stove (kamado かまど) for cooking. In the Kansai (関西) region, broadly thought of as ‘western Japan’, the doma is generally known as the niwa (にわ); in the Kantо̄ (関東) region or ‘eastern Japan’ it is usually called the daidokoro.
The Kitamura residence (Kitamura-ke 北村家), a hiroma-type three-room layout (hiroma-gata san-madori 広間型３間取り) in eastern Japan. The dashed line indicates where the hiroma (ひろま) would be partitioned to create a staggered four-room layout (kui-chigai yon-madori 食違い四間取り); this new partition might then move forward to align with the heyaーoku (へやーおく) partition, to create a regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori (整形四間取り).
Labelled are: the earth-floored utility area (daidokoro だいどころ) with stove (kamado かまど), well (marked mizu 水), and entry doma (iriguchi doma 入口土間), for food preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整), food storage (shokuruо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業), handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), and storage of farm implements (nо̄gu okiba 農具置場); a urinal (shо̄ben 小便); the ‘living room’ (hiroma ひろま) with shelves (todana 戸棚), ‘sitting sink’ (suwari-nagashi 座り流し), raised entry (chо̄dai-gamae 帳台構え) to the bedroom, firepit (irori, marked ro 炉) and decorative alcove (oshi-ita 押板), for dining (shokuji 食事), food preparation, family time (danran 団らん), entertaining (о̄tai 応対), and handwork; the ‘formal room’ (zashiki 座敷, here called oku おく), with Buddhist altar (butsudan, here marked 卍), decorative alcove (toko とこ) and storage (en えん), for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), and sleeping (shūshin 就寝); and the bedroom (heya へや) with closets (oshi-ire 押入), for sleeping and storage of family possessions (kazai kakunо̄ 家財格納).
The three smaller plans below show another possible path of development from three-room to four-room layout, from minka in the Tajima district (Tajima chihо̄ 但馬地方) in northern Hyо̄go Prefecture, western Japan. Labelled are: the stable (umaya, abbr. u 牛), the hiroma (daidokoro, abbr. dai 台), zashiki (abbr. za 座), bedroom (nema, abbr. ne 寝), and ‘living room’ (ima, abbr. i 居). Note that, somewhat confusingly, in the Kitamura house the earth-floored utility area (doma) is called the daidokoro and the main ‘living room’ is called the hiroma, whereas here the earth-floored utility area (unlabelled) is called the niwa and the main ‘living room’ is the daidokoro. This reflects differences in naming conventions between eastern and western Japan.
Exterior view of the facade-side verandah (engawa 縁側) and openings to the formal room (oku おく), left, the hiroma (ひろま), centre, and the daidokoro (だいどころ), right.
The doma in the Kitamura house is a closed space, without openings other than the entrances. The border between doma and hiroma is open, with three posts (hashira 柱) erected along it. The hiroma encloses the geya (下屋), the strip of space between inner jо̄ya posts (jо̄ya-bashira 上屋柱) and outer geya posts (geya-bashira下屋柱), which contains shelves (todana 戸棚) and a low sink called a suwari-nagashi (座り流し, lit. ‘sitting sink’). The floor of this ‘dining-kitchen’ area is boarded (yuka-ita 床板) to a width of one ken; the rest of the hiroma has a bamboo floor (sugaki-yuka 簀掻床, thin bamboo poles tied together with rope). The room is centred around the firepit (irori いろり); this area is spread with thick, backed (ura-uchi 裏打ち) mats (mushiro 莚) and is the gathering place for dining, family time, etc. Differences in floor finish are indicative of differences in use, and often full partitions eventually appear at these functional boundaries; in this case, the location of the transition between board and bamboo floors implies the development of a staggered four-room layout (kui-chigai yon-madori 食違い四間取り).
Interior view of the former Kitamura residence, looking from the daidokoro towards the hiroma, with the oku (left) and heya (right) beyond. A step in level and three stout posts mark the otherwise unpartitioned boundary between daidokoro and hiroma.
At the ‘front’ of the hiroma is a tokonoma-style decorative alcove called an oshi-ita (押板). The entrance to the heya is a raised-sill, step-in or step-over fumi-komi (踏込み) entrance called a choudai-gamae (帳台構え). The facade-side oku (おく), also called the dei (でい), is the formal zashiki room for ceremonies, receiving guests, etc.; at the boundary between it and the heya, in an untypical inland position, is a Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇, marked on the plan as 卍), and there is a decorative alcove (toko とこ) on the gable wall, but this is apparently a later addition. The path of development of this type of layout is into a four-room layout: first staggered, then regular.
An interior view of the Kitamura house (Kitamura-ke 北村家) showing the hiroma (ひろま) with bamboo ‘mat’ floor (takesu yuka 竹簀床) extending to the edge of the raised decorative alcove (oshi-ita (押板); to the right is the somewhat decorative choudai-gamae (帳台構え, sliding doors on a raised lintel) that lead to the bedroom (heya へや). The ‘dining’ area of the hiroma, in front of the choudai-gamae, is board-floored (yuka-ita 床板). On the left is the board sliding door in open position, and beyond it the zashiki, here known as the oku (おく), with decorative alcove (toko とこ) and Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇) visible.
View from the board-floored ‘dining-kitchen’ part of the hiroma across the bamboo-floored part of the hiroma and towards the daidokoro. Bamboo also features in the semi-permeable ceiling and the ‘bulkhead’ screen above the lintel at the daidokoro-hiroma boundary, giving the interior a lighter, warmer feel than if these surfaces were lined with timber boards.