In the Kohoku (湖北) region immediately north of Lake Biwa in what is now Shiga Prefecture, there exists a type of minka known as yotsu-sumai (四つ住まい, lit. ‘four dwelling’), an example of which is shown in the plan below.
Plan of a ‘four dwelling’ (yotsu-sumai 四つ住まい) minka in the Kohoku (湖北) region of Shiga Prefecture. Labelled are: the central post (naka-bashira 中柱); the ‘beaten mat’ (tataki-mushiro 叩き莚) floored niwa (にわ) with entry doma (iriguchi doma 入口土間), bath (nyūyoku 入浴), firewood store (shiba-iri 柴入), and external urinal (shо̄ben 小便), for food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業) and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事); the ‘dining-kitchen’ daidoko (だいどこ) or niuji (にうじ) with threshold (bugi ぶぎ), privacy screen (mekakushi めかくし), stove (fudo ふど), firepit (irori いろり), firewood or brush (shiba シバ), and shelves (tana タナ and todana 戸棚), for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), and dinner preparation (shojuki chо̄sei 食物調整); the bedroom (nema ねま) with area for storage of family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財格納), for sleeping (shūshin 就寝) and storage (shūnо̄ 格納); and the ‘formal room’ (zashiki ざしき), with board partitions (itado 板戸), decorative alcovve (toko とこ), and Buddhist altar alcove (butsuma 仏間, here marked with swastika manji), for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), and sleeping (shūshin 就寝).
In this type, two perpendicular partition lines divide the space in the form of a cross (jūji 十字), with a central post (naka-bashira 中柱) at the intersection, forming what is called the ‘central post type’ (naka-bashira-shiki 中柱式) layout. Despite the name ‘four dwelling’, the yotsu-sumai is a three-room layout (san-madori 三間取り), so perhaps ‘quadrant house’ is a better translation. The doma (here called a niwa にわ) occupies one quadrant, with the other three being the kitchen-dining room (daidoko だいどこ), the formal room (zashiki ざしき), and the bedroom (nema ねま). The daidoko is an ‘earth-living’ (doza-sumai 土座住まい) space.
Excluding the perimeter geya (下屋) or ‘under eave’ space, a building of this type of the typical size has a width (ma-guchi 間口) of three ken (one ken 間 is 1.818m) and length (oku-yuki 奥行) of four ken, with each room and the niwa being six jо̄ (帖 or 畳; the modern jо̄ is defined as 1.62m², i.e. the size of a tatami 畳 mat) in area. The floor of each room was spread with mats (mushiro-jiki 莚敷き) of roughly the same size as the modern tatami, and the size of the house was expressed in terms of the number of mats required to cover this area, including the niwa. Thus a house of standard size would be referred to as a ‘24-mat build’ (ni-jū-yon-mai-date 二十四枚建て; mai 枚 is the Japanese counter suffix for flat, planar objects). The size of the niwa was also reckoned linearly, by counting the number of mat widths from the central post to the entrance; in this standard example, the distance from post to entrance is 2 ken, so the niwa is ‘four mats down’ (yon-mai kudari 下り).
The earth-living daidoko or niuji (にうじ) had a ‘beaten mat’ (tataki-mushiro 叩き莚) floor: an underlay of compacted rice husks (momi-gara 籾殻) over which mats (mushiro 莚) were spread. The daidoko contained both a firepit (irori いろり) and a stove (kamado かまど, here fudo ふど). Other than a timber threshold (bugi 分木) inserted into the floor between the daidoko and niwa to mark their boundary, and a simple privacy screen (me-kakushi 目隠し) on the entrance side, there are no partitions, and since the niwa is also spread with mats, daidoko and niwa together form a single continuous space.
Interior view of the same minka as shown in the plan above, looking across the earth-sitting (doza 土座) kitchen (daidoko だいどこ or niuji にうじ). The firepit irori いろり) with trivet (gotoku 五徳) and the stove (kamado かまど, here fudo ふど) are integrated in a single pit.
The house dates from around the Bakumatsu (幕末) period (1853-1868). The zashiki contains a decorative alcove (toko とこ) and Buddhist altar alcove (butsuma 仏間), and on its eastern side there is a ‘verandah’ (en 縁), but the bedroom (nema ねま) is a completely closed space, with board sliding partitions (ita-do 板戸) separating it from the other rooms.
The naka-bashira is Japanese zelkova (keyaki 欅, Zelkova serrata), 20cm square and set on a stone pad footing (ishi-ba date 石場建て) via an intermediate ‘plinth’ (soban 礎盤) of Japanese chestnut (kuri 栗, Castanea crenata) around 6cm thick. The bath is of the steam bath type (mushi-buro keishiki 蒸し風呂形式).
There are two paths of development of this layout: it can either extend in the transverse direction, to become an ‘О̄ura style' (О̄ura-gata 大浦型) minka, otherwise known as a muttsu-sumai (六つ住まい, lit. ‘six dwelling’); or it can extend in the longitudinal direction, to become a koma-iri (小間入り) or ‘Yogo style’ (Yogo-kata 余呉型) minka.
Central post three-room layout minka are also found on the Nansei Islands (Nansei Shotо̄ 南西諸島), as discussed in a previous post, but the mode of habitation of these minka is completely different to that of the Kohoku minka; it is rather in accordance with the front-zashiki type (mae-zashiki gata 前座敷型) minka that will be the subject of next week’s post. Nansei minka are raised-floor and often without a doma; instead, cooking is done in a separate building, the ‘cookhouse’ (tо̄gura とうぐら).