More four-room minka layouts…

The plan below, the Nakazuka family (Nakazuka-ke 中塚家) residence in Harukigawa-cho (春木川町), Izumi City (Izumi-shi 和泉市), О̄saka Prefecture, is a gable-entry type (tsuma-iri-kata 妻入り型) four-room layout (yon-madori 四間取り). Its interior is highly ‘open’ (meaning the partitioning consists almost entirely of sliding, openable panels rather than fixed panels or walls), but the windowless bedroom (heya へや) has opaque board doors (itado 板戸) so can be completely closed up. This minka type is found in the mountainous areas of the Sennan (泉南) region of О̄saka Prefecture.

The Nakazuka house. A gable-entry (*tsuma-iri* 妻入り), gable-alcove (*tsuma-doko* 妻床), regular four-room layout (*seikeiyon-madori* 整形四間取り). Labelled: the earth-floored utility area (*niwa* にわ) with entry *doma* (*iriguchi doma* 入口土間), stove, sink (*nagashi* ナガシ), and water (*mizu* 水), for meal preparation (*tabemono chо̄sei* 食物調整), agricultural work (*nо̄-sagyо̄* 濃作業), food preparation (*shokuryо̄ chо̄sei* 食糧調整), food storage (*shokuryо̄ chozо̄* 食糧貯蔵); the ‘dining-family room’ (*hiroshiki* ひろしき) with shelves (*todana* 戸棚), for dining (*shokuji* 食事), family time (*danran* 団らん), and handwork (*te-shigoto* 手仕事); the *zashiki* (ざしき), with gable-end decorative alcove (*toko* とこ) and Buddhist alcove (*butsuma* 仏間, marked *manji* 卍), for ceremonies (*gyо̄ji* 行事), receiving guests (*sekkyaku* 接客), and sleeping (*shūshin* 就寝); the ‘second room’ (*tsugi-no-ma* 次の間), here called de (で), for ceremonies, receiving guests, entertaining (*о̄tai* 応対), and sleeping; and the bedroom (*heya* へや), for sleeping and storage of family possessions (*kazai shūnо̄* 家財収納). Under the eaves there is an area for fuel (firewood) storage (*nenryо̄ chо̄zо̄* 燃料貯蔵), a bath (*furo* ふろ); the ‘verandah’ (en 縁) is used for entertaining.

Next is the former Kiyomiya family (kyū Kiyomiya-ke 旧清宮家) residence, an old minka from the Tama hills (Tama-kyūryо̄ 多摩丘陵) region of Kanagawa Prefecture, relocated to the Japan Open Air Folk House Museum, also in Kanagawa. It is a regular four-room layout, thought to have developed from a two-room perpendicular lineup type (heiretsu-gata 併列型) layout, but with strong hiroma-type (hiroma-gata 広間型) layout characteristics. It is richly evocative of old eastern Japan (Azuma-no-Kuni 東国). The two rear rooms are completely ‘closed’; three posts stand on the boundary between the ‘living-dining-kitchen’ hiroma (ひろま) and the earth-floored utility area (dēdoko でえどこ) and these are infilled with fixed timber lattice (kо̄shi 格子) windows; there is no direct passage between the bedroom (ura-beya うらべや) to the rear of the hiroma and the dēdoko, or between the bedroom (heya へや) and the dē (でえ), and the heya is only accessible by passing through the urabeya; even the devices on the southern facade openings are old-fashioned. In the south wall of the hiroma there is a shallow decorative alcove called an oshi-ita (押板, lit. ‘push board’). Other than this, the interior is without joinery: there is no decorative alcove or Buddhist alcove in the formal dē, and no closets or even shelves anywhere in the dwelling. The heya, with a floor of lashed bamboo poles (takesu yuka 竹簀床) spread with thick mats (atsu-mushiro 厚莚), is used as the sleeping place for the husband and wife.