JAPANESE MINKA XLIV- PLANNING 22: FOUR-ROOM DWELLINGS 3

Continuing with our discussion of four-room minka layouts, in this post we will take a look at how four-room layouts evolved over time by comparing some older and newer examples.

The plan below, of the Yamamoto house (Yamamoto-ke 山本家) in Osaka Prefecture, is an example of an old-fashioned four-room layout, with a relatively ‘closed’ character. The bedroom (nando なんど) in particular is completely isolated from the rest of the interior, and there is a step-in type closet in the entry doma.  At the time of survey, there was a decorative alcove (tokonoma 床の間 or toko 床) in the gable wall of the zashiki, a style known as tsuma-doko (妻床, lit. ‘gable toko’), but originally the Buddhist alcove (butsuma 仏間) and the shelves (todana 戸棚) at the boundary with the nando would have been the only decorative elements of the zashiki, in the absence of a tokonoma; this style is called hira-toko (平床, lit. ‘flat toko’).

The Yamamoto house.  Labelled are: the earth-floored utility area, consisting of the niwa (にわ), with entry doma (iriguchi doma 入口土間) and menses (seiri 生理) closet, and for agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業) and feed preparation (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整); the stable (umaya うまや) for raising livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育) and composting (taihizо̄sei 堆肥造成); the ‘stove doma' (kamaya かまや), with stove (kudo くど), sink (hashiri はしり), ‘lever thresher' (kara-usu カラウス) and smoke bulkhead (kemuri-kaeshi 煙返し), for food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), meal preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整), and food preparation (shokuryо̄ chо̄sei 食糧調整); a board ‘landing' (toko とこ) for lunch (chūshoku 昼食) and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事); the kitchen-dining room (daidoko だいどこ) for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), and evening or night work (yonabe-shigoto よなべ仕事) with shelves (todana 戸棚) and bedroom entry (nando-gamae なんど構え); the bedroom (nando なんど) for sleeping (shūshin 就寝) and storage of family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財収納; the zashiki (ざしき), for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), and sleeping (shūshin 就寝), with Buddhist alcove (butsuma, marked manji 卍) and shelves; and the ‘second room' (tsugi-no-ma 次の間), here kuchi-no-ma (くちのま), for entertaining (о̄tai 応対), courting (kо̄sai 交際), and as a ‘breakout room' for the ceremonies of the oku-no-ma.  The ‘verandah' (en えん) is also used for handwork and entertaining.  There is an outside urinal (shо̄ben 小便, marked 小) next to the entrance.  The position of the current (genjо̄ 現状), non-original gable-wall decorative alcove (tsuma-toko 妻床) is indicated with dashed lines.

Interior view of the zashiki of the Yamanoto house, looking towards the Buddhist alcove (butsuma 仏間) on the right and shelves (todana 戸棚) on the left.  Leaning against the shelves is a low table known as a kotatsu, with an electric heating element visible on its underside.

A ‘lever thresher' (kara-usu 唐臼 or カラウス, lit. ‘Chinese mortar') for threshing grain.

The next plan, of the Nakashima house (Nakashima-ke 中島家) in the Iga district (Iga chihou 伊賀地方) of Mie Prefecture, is a representative example of what eventually became the most widely-distributed style of regular four-room layout.  This (comparatively) new type is characterised by an interior that is relatively open, meaning that the boundaries between all four rooms are fitted with sliding, unfixed partitions; if these partitions are removed, a single, continuous space is obtained.  This open character extends to the nando, which is no longer the dark ‘bedcloset’ of the Yamamoto house.  Its private nature has been reduced and it has taken on some of the functions of a living room, necessitating the addition of a closet to store (hide) bedding during the day.  The butsuma and storage are now out of the way in the gable wall, making this a true tsuma-doko layout.

Other than the blind gable wall to the nando and okunoma, the rooms are also very open to the outside, and the exterior walls of the dwelling are highly permeable: of the 43 total intra-post ‘bays’ (each around half a ken or 91cm wide) that make up the exterior walls, only 25 are solid wall; the other 18 are occupied either by sliding partitions or by windows of some description. Even the niwa has an entrance on all three of its sides.

At the border of the denoma (でのま) and the okunoma (おくのま) there are obito (帯戸), wooden panel sliding partitions (itado 板戸) with a mid-rail (obizan 帯桟), which give greater formality to the zashiki; in the feudal (hо̄ken 封建) period the obito signified that women, children, and people of low status were not to enter this room without good reason.

The Nakashima house.  Labelled are: the earth-floored utility area, consisting of the niwa (にわ), with entry doma (iriguchi doma 入口土間), and bath (furo ふろ), for agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業); the stable (maya まや) for raising livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育) and composting (taihizо̄sei 堆肥造成); the ‘stove doma' (kamaya かまや), with stove (kudo くど), lever mortar (kara-usu カラウス) and smoke bulkhead (kemuri-kaeshi 煙返し), for food preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整), food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), and feed preparation (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整); and the ‘inner niwa' (uchi-niwa うちにわ), with sink (nagashi ナガシ) and board ‘landing' (ochima おちま), for meal preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整); the kitchen-dining room (daidoko だいどこ) for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん) and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), with shelves (todana 戸棚); the bedroom (nando なんど) for sleeping (shūshin 就寝) and storage of family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財収納), with closet (oshi-ire 押入); the zashiki, here oku-no-ma (おくのま), for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), and sleeping (shūshin 就寝), with Buddhist alcove (butsuma, marked manji 卍) and storage; and the ‘second room' (tsugi-no-ma 次の間), here de-no-ma (でのま), for entertaining (о̄tai 応対), and as a ‘breakout room' for the ceremonies of the oku-no-ma.  The ‘verandah' (en えん) is also used for handwork and entertaining, and accessing the urinal (shо̄ben 小便, marked 小).  Partitions are marked ko (コ) for kо̄shi (lattice), sasara-do (ササラ戸, very fine, closely-spaced lattice), shi (シ) for shо̄ji (障子, lattice with thin transparent paper on one side), fu (フ) for fusuma (襖, lattice with thick opaque paper on both sides), and obito (オビト).

Four obito (帯戸)

JAPANESE MINKA XLIII- PLANNING 21: FOUR-ROOM DWELLINGS 2

As mentioned in last week’s post, four-room layout (yon-madori 四間取り) minka can be broadly subcategorised into regular (seikei 整形) and irregular or staggered (kui-chigai 食違い) layouts. Staggered four-room layouts are themselves subcategorised as either ‘parallel stagger’ (tate-kui-chigai kata 縦食違い型, lit. ‘vertical stagger type’), layouts, where the ‘stagger’ is in the partition line parallel to the room-doma axis, or ‘perpendicular stagger’ (yoko-kui-chigai kata 横食違い型, lit. ‘horizontal stagger type’) layouts, where the stagger is in the partition line perpendicular to the room-doma boundary.

Comparison of a ‘perpendicular stagger’ (yoko-kui-chigai kata 横食違い型) layout (top); and a ‘parallel stagger’ (tate-kui-chigai kata 縦食違い型), layout.  The doma (not pictured) are on the right of each plan.

One advantage of the staggered layout, whether parallel or perpendicular, is that it offers the convenience of being able to directly access both of the ‘upper’ (kamite 上み手) or ‘rear’ rooms (the rooms furthest from the doma) from the larger of the lower (shimote 下も手) or ‘front’ rooms (the rooms adjacent to the doma). Confusingly, the terms ‘upper’ (ue or kami, 上) and ‘lower’ (shita or shimo 下) are also sometimes used to indicate ‘front’, i.e. on the facade side of the building, and ‘rear’, i.e. to the rear side of the building, away from the facade.

A comparison of staggered (kui-chigai 食違い) and regular (seikei 整形) four-room (yon-madori 四間取り) ‘facade zashiki type' (omote-zashiki gata 表座敷型) layouts illustrates the convenience of the staggered layout (on the left). In it, both the zashiki (ざしき) and the bedroom (heya へや) can be accessed directly from the larger of the doma-adjacent rooms, here the hiroma (ひろま).  In the regular layout on the right, one must pass through either the zashiki or the ‘kitchen-dining room' (katte かって) to access the bedroom (heya へや) from the ‘living room' (dei でい).  The doma (not pictured) are on the right of each plan.

In any minka, the upper rear (kamite-oku 上み手奥) corner, the position furthest from both the doma and the facade, is the most private and ‘inner’ part of the dwelling. In most four-room layouts, as in the two plan diagrams below, this position is occupied by a bedroom (here heya へや), and in front of (to the facade side of) it is a zashiki. This layout is known as omote-zashiki gata (表座敷型, lit. ‘front zashiki type’ or ‘facade zashiki’ type), as distinct from the mae-zashiki gata (前座敷型) or ‘front zashiki type’ three-room layouts covered in previous posts on three-room minka. Both omote (表) and mae (前) can be translated as ‘front’.

In other four-room layouts, the upper rear position is occupied by another zashiki; the bedroom is to the rear of the hiroma and adjacent to the doma. These layouts are known as kagi-zashiki gata (鍵座敷型, lit. ‘key zashiki type’).

Comparison of the ‘rear zashiki type' (kagi-zashiki gata 鍵座敷型) layout, on the left, with the ‘front/facade zashiki type' layout, on the right. 

Labelled: the zashiki (座敷), ‘living room' (hiroma 広間 or okami おかみ), bedroom (nebeya 寝部屋), tsugi-no-ma (次の間, lit. ‘next room', defined as ‘a room adjoining a main room'), and doma (土間).

The left column of four plans shows the development path of a three-room hiroma-gata layout.  It begins (top left plan) with three rooms: the doma-adjacent hiroma, upper rear bedroom, and facade-side zashiki.  From there it can become either of two perpendicular-stagger four-room layouts: in the plan on the left, the rear doma-adjacent room (here labelled hiroma) gains area over the facade-side doma-adjacent room (unlabelled, but a tsugi-no-ma that either supplements the functions of the zashiki, variously called the dei, de-no-ma, etc., or some kind of living room).  In the plan on the right, the front doma-adjacent room (again a hiroma) gains area, and the smaller rear doma-adjacent room (unlabelled) is a kitchen-dining room (katte, dadoko, cha-no-ma, or the like).  These layouts re-converge in the bottom plan, a regular or ta-no-ji gata (田の字型, lit. ‘rice fields character type') four-room layout.

The right column of two plans illustrates the development of the kagi-zashiki layout from staggered (top plan) to regular (bottom plan), each with ‘upper' and ‘lower' zashiki, facade-side hiroma/tsugi-no-ma, and a doma-adjacent rear bedroom.

Labelled: the doma (土間), ‘upper' (ue 上) and ‘lower' (shita 下) zashiki (座敷 or 座), ‘living room' (hiroma 広間 or 広), dining room (cha-no-ma 茶の間), and bedroom (shinjo 寝所 or 寝).

Generally speaking, perpendicular stagger (yoko-kui-chigai) layouts tend to develop out of hiroma-type (hiroma-gata) three-room layouts, while parallel stagger (tate-kui-chigai) layouts tend to evolve from front-zashiki (mae-zashiki) three-room layouts.

Hiroma-type (hiroma-gata 広間型) three-room (san-madori ３間取り) layouts tend to evolve into perpendicular stagger (yoko-kui-chigai 横食違い) four-room layouts.  Labelled: the bedroom (heya へや), zashiki (ざしき), ‘living room' (hiroma ひろま), and ‘kitchen-dining room' (katte かって).  The doma (not pictured) are on the right of each plan.

Front-zashiki type (mae-zashiki gata 前座敷型) three-room (san-madori ３間取り) layouts tend to evolve into parallel stagger (tate-kui-chigai 縦食違い) four-room layouts.  Labelled: the bedroom (nema ねま or heya へや), zashiki (ざしき), ‘kitchen-dining-family room' (daidoko だいどこ), and tsugi-no-ma, here called the kuchi-no-ma (くちのま, lit. ‘mouth room' in the sense of ‘entry', presumably to the zashiki).  The doma (not pictured) are on the right of each plan.

JAPANESE MINKA XLII- PLANNING 20: FOUR-ROOM DWELLINGS 1

After devoting the last eight posts or so to three-room layout (san-madori 三間取り) minka, today we move on to four-room layouts (yon-madori 四間取り), though four-room layouts have already made many appearances in these posts, in considering the paths of development of one-room, two-room and three-room minka in response to increasing familial requirements or general economic advancement.

As the name suggests, the ‘floored’ or ‘habitable’ part of the four-room layout minka consists of four rooms, not including the earth-floored utility space called the doma (土間). In general, four-room layouts are sub-categorised as either regular (seikei 整形) or ‘irregular’ or staggered (kui-chigai 食違い).

In the regular form, the corners of the four rooms intersect at a single, central point, with the two perpendicular partition lines in a cruciform (jūji-kei 十字形) arrangement; this layout is also known as ta-no-ji-gata madori (田の字型間取り, lit. ‘rice paddy character type layout’), for its resemblance in plan to the character for rice fields (ta,田). In the irregular or staggered form, one of the partitions between two rooms is offset from the intersection.

Hypothetical plans illustrating the two sub-categories of four-room layout (yon-madori 四間取り). On the left is a ‘staggered' layout (kui-chigai gata 食違い型); in this case it is a ‘hiroma type’ (hiroma-gata 広間型) layout, with the ‘stagger’ in the partition line being perpendicular to the room-doma boundary, further classifying it as a ‘perpendicular staggered type’ (yoko kui-chigai gata). The plan on the right is a regular (seikei 整形) four-room layout (yon-madori 四間取り).  Earth-floored utility areas (doma 土間) are not shown, but should be imagined on the right of each plan; i.e. in the first plan the ‘living room’ (hiroma ひろま) and ‘kitchen/dining room’ (katte かって) border the doma, and in the second plan the katte and ‘living room’ (dei でい) border the doma.

Given that minka typically lack internal corridors, one advantage of the staggered layout over the regular layout, apparent from looking at these two plans, is that the staggered layout gives two of the rooms direct access to all three of the other rooms.  In the example above, one can go between ‘living room’ (hiroma ひろま) and bedroom (heya へや) without entering either the ‘kitchen/dining room’ (katte かって) or the ‘formal room’ (zashiki ざしき), whereas in the regular layout, one cannot go from the ‘living room’ (dei でい) to the heya except via either the katte or the zashiki. This ‘universal access’ functionality can be given to any room according to the placement of the ‘stagger’, but for obvious reasons it usually goes to the room that corresponds most closely to the western idea of the ‘living room’, i.e. the room that acts as the functional hub of the house.

The four-room layout can be thought of in a sense as a complete, fundamental form, or at least a developmental culmination. In the Kinki region, where minka development was at its most advanced, the four-room layout became common beginning from around the early Edo period (i.e. the early 17th century). Development beyond this point, at least among the farmhouses of high-status families, was into regular six-room layouts (seikei roku-madori 整形六間取り), with such sub-classifications as sa-ji-gata (サ字型, lit. ‘sa character type’) and ki-ji-gata (キ字型, lit. ‘ki character type’). Each of these forms might be considered an elaborative result of uniquely complex developmental ends, and it is difficult to neatly organise them into coherent types or categories.

As mentioned, there was a nation-wide tendency for all types of layout to find developmental fulfilment in the four-room layout, and this layout has become the representative form of Japanese vernacular dwellings in the ‘modern’ era. In previous eras, the hiroma-gata three-room layout had made up the majority of minka layouts, but with the four-room layout there is the division of the hiroma into two rooms. It is thought that one of the factors that motivated the development of an independent ‘dining room’ and the breaking up of the irori-centred ‘dining - family time - hosting guests’ triad was the desire to improve the liveability of the dwelling in general, and in particular to eliminate the various inconveniences and impracticalities involved with receiving guests in the place of eating. There was also sometimes the economic necessity of taking up sericulture (yо̄san 養蚕), and the consequent need to be able to close up a room or rooms to retain the warmth required for raising (yо̄-iku 養育) young silkworms (chisan 稚蚕).

The facade-side room resulting from the division of the hiroma is called variously the dei (でい), de (で), denoma (でのま), kuchinoma (くちのま), shimonoma (しものま), omote (おもて), ima (いま), genkan zashiki (玄関座敷), etc.; the names all indicate either the use or position of the room, which functions as the space for reception (о̄tai 応対) and living activities, an entry for honoured guests, and a ‘breakout’ or ‘spillover’ extension of the zashiki when conducting religious ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事).

JAPANESE MINKA XLI- PLANNING 19: THREE-ROOM DWELLINGS 8

Next up in this series on three-room minka is what I will call the ‘parallel lineup’ three-room layout (jūretsu-gata san-madori 縦列型三間取り), in which the three rooms are arrayed, or lined up, so that each room shares part of the room-doma boundary; in other words, the three rooms are lined up along, and in parallel with, the room-doma boundary axis, with the partitions or divisions between these rooms being perpendicular to this axis. In most rural three-room layouts, this results in a building that is longer along the room-doma axis, i.e. the room-doma axis is the long axis of the building. In a fully-detached building such as a farmhouse, the logical structural outcome of this arrangement is that the roof ridge is parallel to room-doma boundary axis, so the rooms are also arrayed along the ridge axis. The key point is that when classifying minka layouts according to how the rooms are arrayed, the reference axis is the room-doma boundary axis, not the ridge axis: as we shall see, there are also ‘parallel lineup’ layouts in which the ridge axis is perpendicular to the room-doma boundary axis.

The precursor or prototype of the three-room parallel lineup layout can be seen in the plan below, discussed in a previous post: a two-room (ni-shitsu ２室) parallel lineup layout minka in the Karabitsu (唐櫃) district in Hokusetsu (北摂), current day Hyо̄go Prefecture. It might be better termed a 2.5 room layout, where the nuri-gome (塗りごめ, an area for sleeping or storage with fully-plastered exterior walls) created in one corner of the daidokoro (だいどころ) has been fully partitioned off as a proper room (heya へや), but the horizontal partition returns vertically into the external wall instead of extending straight to the doma boundary, so there is still a sense in which the heya is not a fully-fledged room but remains part of and subordinate to the daidokoro.

A two-room (ni-shitsu ２室) ‘transverse lineup’ (jūrets-gata 縦列型) minka, precursor to three-room transverse lineup layouts like the Izumi house.

The parallel lineup layout is commonly seen among farmhouses (nо̄-minka 濃民家 or nо̄-ka 農家) in the Tanba (丹波) district and surrounds, corresponding to parts of modern-day Kyо̄to, Hyо̄go, and О̄saka Prefectures. A representative three-room example is shown in the plan below, of the former Izumi residence (Izumi-ke 泉家), a farmhouse that has been relocated to the Open Air Museum of Old Japanese Farm Houses (Minka Shūraku Hakubutsukan 民家集落博物館) in Toyonaka City and is designated an important cultural property. The building originally stood in the Nose district (Nose chihо̄ 能勢地方) of О̄saka prefecture, which adjoins Tanba.

Plan of the Izumi residence.  Labelled are the deep ‘porch’ (en えん) for ‘entertaining' (о̄tai 応対), handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), and tool storage (dо̄gu okiba 道具置場); sheltered entry area for fuel storage (nenryо̄ chozо̄ 燃料貯蔵); stable (maya まや) for raising livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育) and composting (taihizо̄sei 堆肥造成); earth-floored utility area (niwa にわ) with entry (doma iriguchi 土間入口), sink (hashiri はしり), and stove (kudo くど), for food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵) and agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業); the zashiki (ざしき) for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客) and sleeping (shūshin 就寝), with closet (iriguchi, marked 入) and Buddhist alcove with altar (marked 卍); the living-dining room (daidoko だいどこ) with board (ita 板) floor, edge-located firepit (irori いろり), and shelf closet (todana 戸棚), for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), entertaining (о̄tai 応対), and handwork; and the bedroom (nando なんど), for sleeping and storage of family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財格納).

On the entry side of the gable-entry Izumi residence there is a do-bisashi or tsuchi-bisashi (土庇), a deep eave supported by posts. In minka of the same type found in the Nishiyama district of Kyо̄to, this element is called the mage (真下), and under it there is a bench-like (endaijou 縁台状) board floor known as a hama-yuka (浜床, lit. ‘shore floor’) or hama-en (浜縁, lit. ‘shore edge’); in the Izumi residence there is an open hiro-en (広縁, lit. ‘spacious edge’), which is a ‘verandah’ (engawa 縁側) or ‘porch’ whose substantial depth gives it greater utility for a range of purposes: in this case, reception of guests (о̄tai 応対), handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), and drying of cereals (kokumotsu 穀物).

On entering there is a stable (umaya, here maya) on the left and zashiki on the right, completely closed off from the doma (here niwa) with a board wall (ita-kabe 板壁), except for a single-leaf sliding door; this is an old-fashioned method of partition.

The niwa to the rear of the stable contains a sink (nagashi-dai 流し台, here hashiri) and stove (kamado かまど, here kudo) and is used for cooking and farm work; the daidoko, facing and open to the niwa, is the place for activities centred around the firepit (irori いろり). The nando (なんど) at the very rear is used as a bedroom (nema 寝間) and is open to the daidoko only via a single koshi-taka shо̄ji (腰高障子), a sliding panel with an upper half of paper-covered lattice and lower half of thin board; the rest of the nando is completely closed.

The development of this type of minka is illustrated in the first row of four plans shown below. It starts out as a parallel lineup three-room layout (jūretsu-gata san-madori 縦列型三間取り, the first plan). Then, in the second plan, the nando to the rear of the daidoko is moved and the minka becomes a front-zashiki type (mae-zashiki gata 前座敷型) layout; the border between the daidoko and the niwa is now longer, making the daidoko more convenient to use. Additionally, the sink is moved to the rear gable wall, and next to it a rear or back door (ura-toguchi 裏戸口) is added, and the entry doma (doma iriguchi 土間入口) and niwa (にわ) are partitioned off from one another (presumably there is a door in this partition). The opening between the zashiki and doma is widened, and rain shutters (amado 雨戸) are added to the hiro-en, resulting in an ‘enclosed verandah’ (nai-en 内縁).

In the next stage (the third plan), the partition line between the nando and the daidoko is extended forward through the zashiki to divide it into two rooms: a smaller, formal or ‘public-facing’ zashiki, and a living room-like room ima (居間), resulting in a regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori (整形４間取り). The nando is fully opened up on its daidoko side, reducing its closed character. Finally, the entrance door is moved forward, and the hiro-en is expanded and ‘roomified’ (heya-ka 部屋化).

In the fourth plan, the minka becomes a regular six-room layout (seikei roku-madori (整形６間取り). An ‘entrance zashiki’ (genkan-zashiki 玄関座敷) develops, with attached shikidai (式台), a ‘running board’ type step at intermediate height between the doma or ground and the raised floor. The zashiki are formalised with ‘picture rails’ (nageshi 長押) and equipped with decorative alcoves (toko とこ) and shelves, and a ‘wraparound verandah’ (mawari-en 周り縁) is added to the exterior. The daidoko becomes a central chanoma (茶の間), used only for dining; the rear rooms are bedrooms or storerooms, and are completed by adding closets (oshi-ire 押入) and shelving (todana 戸棚).

The top row of plans show the development of a parallel lineup layout in the Nose district.  Note that on the second plan「外縁」(gai-en, ‘external verandah' should read 「内縁」 (nai-en, ‘enclosed verandah'). 

The bottom row of four plans show the development of the parallel lineup three-room layout (jūretsu-gata san-madori 縦列型三間取り, the first plan) into a ‘merchant house' (shо̄-ka 商家, the second plan), where the zashiki has moved to the rear and a shop (mise 店) and ‘lower shop' (shita-mise 下店 are added at the street/entry facade.  Then in thetownhouse (machiya 町家) the zashiki and ‘living-dining room' swap places.  Finally the machiya expands sideways into a ‘twin parallel lineup' (ni-retsu-tate-narabe ２列竪ならべ) with six rooms.

Legend: stable (u 牛), zashiki (za 座), living-dining or dining room (dai 台), bedroom (ne 寝), living room (i 居), shop (mise 店).

Other than the farmhouses of the Tanba area, the parallel lineup layout has also achieved universal distribution in the Japanese urban environment, in the form of the townhouse or machiya (町家), a building which is both a dwelling and a place of commercial activity, where the doma (called the tо̄ri-niwa 通り庭, lit. ‘passage niwa’) runs from the narrow entrance facade through to the rear, with the line of the roof ridge being perpendicular to the room-doma boundary axis, and the two slopes of the gable roof draining to the front and back of the deep, narrow lot. Though these two minka typologies may share the same general classification in terms of layout, both the orientation of the roof ridge in relation to the room-doma boundary and the location of the zashiki differ between them; the mode of occupation between each is also markedly different.

JAPANESE MINKA XL - PLANNING 18: THREE-ROOM DWELLINGS 7

Last week’s post discussed the front-zashiki three-room layouts of the Kinki region. There is another three-room precursor to the regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori 整形四間取り), also found in Kinki: the ‘staggered type three-room layout’ (kui-chigai kata san-madori 食違い型三間取り). This layout type is distributed from the areas straddling the Kinokawa (紀の川) River in Wakayama and О̄saka Prefectures down to the lower reaches of the Yoshino River 吉野川 (which is what the Kinokawa River is called in Nara Prefecture). The plan below, of the Ueno house (Ueno-ke 上野家) in Sennan County (Sen-nan-gun 泉南郡), О̄saka Prefecture, is a representative example. The type is a variety of front-zashiki layout, but with a ‘living-dining room’ (daidoko だいどこ), for dining and ‘family gathering’ (danran 団らん), that is fully open to, and projects out into, the doma (here called the niwa). From this feature, the layout is also described as henkei (変形), which can variously mean ‘deformed’, ‘transformed’, or ‘modified’; it could be argued that this is a more accurate description than ‘staggered’ (kui-chigai 食違い), or even that the layout is not truly staggered at all, since there is no ‘cross’ (jūji 十字) of partition lines to be staggered in a three-room layout.

A very similar two-room form can be found in Taki County (Taki-gun 多気郡) in Mie Prefecture, as covered in the previous series of posts on two-room layouts. Interestingly, these minka types are distributed in a pattern that exactly traverses the root of the Kii Peninsula (Kii Hantо̄ 紀伊半島).

A front-zashiki type layout, but the rear daidoko is large and offset from the zashiki, extending out into the doma to form a staggered three room layout. Labelled are: the earth-floored utility area (niwa にわ) for food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), food preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整), feed preparation (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整), agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), with stable (maya まや) for raising livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育) and entry doma (iriguchi doma 入口土間); the ‘living-dining’ room (daidoko だいどこ), open (kaihо̄ 開放) to the niwa, for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), entertaining (о̄tai 応対), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事); the bedroom (nando なんど) for sleeping (shūshin 就寝) and family possessions (kazai 家財); and the formal room (zashiki ざしき), for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), sleeping (shūshin 就寝), and receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), with alcove (butsuma 仏間) for Buddhist altar (marked manji 卍), decorative alcove (toko とこ), and shelves (tana たな). Sennan County, О̄saka Prefecture.

Two paths of development of this layout are shown in the plans below. The upper three plans show the path of development of minka, such as the Ueno house, in Sennan County: the partition at the boundary between daidoko and nando is extended forward and the plan becomes a ‘modified’ (henkei 変形) four-room layout (yon-madori 四間取り). At this point the plan is no longer staggered but ‘regular’ (seikei 整形), as the two perpendicular partition lines intersect at a single point, in a cruciform configuration (jūji-gata 十字型). The plan then develops into a regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori 整形四間取り) as the niwa boundaries of the daidoko and ima are aligned, though the projection of the daidoko lives on as a boarded ‘deck’ extending out into the niwa.

The lower three plans are of a minka in Naka County (Naka-gun 那賀群) in Wakayama Prefecture: again, the partition at the boundary between daidoko and nando is extended forward and the plan becomes a regular but ‘modified’ four-room layout. With the addition of a fifth room, however, the plan reverts to a staggered layout: on the Wakayama Prefecture side of the distribution, in Naka County (Naka-gun 那賀群) and Ito County (Ito-gun 伊都郡), there is a tendency to return to or retain the staggered configuration as the number of partitions and rooms increase.

Two paths of development of the ‘deformed’ (henkei 変形) front-zashiki three-room layout. The top row illustrates the development of the Sennan County, О̄saka Prefecture minka shown in the large plan above. The bottom row shows the path of development of a minka in Naka County, Wakayama Prefecture. Labelled are the stable (maya, here marked ushi 牛, lit. ‘cow’), the ‘living-dining’ room (daidoko, marked dai 台), bedroom (nando, marked ne 寝), ‘formal room’ (zashiki, marked za 座), and ‘living room’ (ima, marked i 居).

JAPANESE MINKA XXXIX- PLANNING 17: THREE-ROOM DWELLINGS 6

So far in this series of posts on three-room layouts (san-madori 三間取り) in minka we have covered front doma type (mae-doma-gata 前土間型), hiroma type (hiroma-gata 広間型) and central post type (naka-bashira-shiki 中柱式) layouts. Here we will add one more to the list: the ‘front zashiki’ type (mae-zashiki-gata 前座敷) three-room layout. In this type, two rooms adjoin the earth-floored utility area (doma土間): a ‘living-dining-kitchen’ room at the rear, and the formal room or zashiki at the front (mae 前), or facade, side of the building; the zashiki runs the full length of the raised-floor part of the minka. ‘Up’ from the LDK, in the rear corner, is the bedroom.

In the Kinki region, the regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori 整形四間取り) had become the most universal type by the ‘modern’ era, but there are (or were) no small number remaining of its predecessor, the front zashiki three-room layout (mae-zashiki-gata san-madori 前座敷型三間取り), which might be regarded as the prototype of the regular four-room layout in this region. The plan shown below is a famous example: the restored Furui House (Furui-ke 古井家) in Nishi Harima (西播磨), Hyogo Prefecture, which was recognised even long ago as a very old house (sen-nen-ya 千年家, lit. ‘thousand year house’), though survey results indicate that the present building was constructed in the late Muromachi period (Muromachi jidai 室町時代, 1336 - 1573), i.e. around the mid-sixteenth century. In any case, as one of the oldest surviving minka, redolent of medieval Japan, it has been designated a nationally-important cultural property.

The Furui House (Furui-ke 古井家) in Hyogo Prefecture, a front zashiki three-room layout (mae-zashiki-gata san-madori 前座敷三間取り) minka. The earth-floored utility area (the doma 土間 or niwa にわ, unlabelled) is for food storage (shokuruо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), food preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整), meal preparation (shokuji chо̄sei 食事調整), agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業), and feed preparation (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整), and contains the stove (kamado かまど), mortar (kara-usu からうす), water (mizu 水), sink (nagashi ナガシ), shelves (tana タナ), entry doma (iriguchi doma 入口土間), and bath (nyūyoku 入浴), with external ‘kindling entry’ (taki-guchi 焚き口), urinal (shо̄ben 小便), and fuel (probably firewood) storage (nenryо̄ chozо̄ 燃料貯蔵); the stable (maya まや) for raising livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育) and composting (taihi zо̄sei 堆肥造成); the zashiki (ざしき) for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), village administration (sonsei 村政), sleeping (shūshin 就寝), and with religious room decorations (shinkо̄ heya kazari 信仰部屋飾り) and a verandah for greeting/entertaining guests (о̄tai 応対) and ‘honored guest’ entry (shо̄kyaku iriguchi 正客入口); the ‘living dining room’ (cha-no-ma ちゃのま) for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), entertaining (о̄tai 応対), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), with firepit (irori, marked ro 炉) and utensil shelves (jūki dana 什器棚); and the bedroom (nando なんど) for sleeping and storage of family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財格納). The exterior is fully plastered (nuri-gome zukuri ぬりごめ造り).

Plans showing the path of development of the basic (kihon-gata 基本型) front zashiki three-room layout (mae-zashiki san-madori 前座敷三間取り) in the Harima (播磨) region, Hyо̄go Prefecture. First it becomes a staggered four-room layout (kui-chigai yon-madori 食違い四間取り), then a regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori 整形四間取り). Labelled are the stable (umaya, here marked 牛), ‘living room’ or, in the three-room layout, the ‘formal room’ (omote 表), ‘kitchen dining’ room (daidoko or chanoma, marked 台), bedroom (nema or nando, marked 寝), and ‘formal room’ (zashiki, marked 座). Characteristic of the minka of this region is that both gable walls are blind (ryо̄-tsuma heisa 両妻, lit. ‘both gable closed’) and the bath and toilet are at the entrance (kado furo 門風呂, lit. ‘gate bath’ and kado benjo 門便所, lit. ‘gate toilet’).

Exterior facade-side view of the Furui house showing its fully-plastered (nuri-gome) external walls and closed gable-end walls.

The interior consists of a doma used for agricultural tasks, with part of it given over to a stable; a large living area, the zashiki, fronting the doma; and, to the rear of the zashiki, the chanoma and nando. The zashiki is board-floored; in the geya (下屋) space on the gable end (short side) there is an alcove for a Buddhist altar (butsuma 仏間), and, in place of a decorative alcove (tokonoma 床の間), a small Shintо̄ shrine (hokora 祠). In accordance with old sumptuary regulations, the nando and chanoma have a floor of thin bamboo poles lashed together (sugaki-yuka 簀掻床).

Interior view of the Furui house, looking from the niwa into the chanoma with its edge-positioned firepit (irori) and the open nando beyond.

Interior view of the Furui house, looking across the niwa to the rear entry.

The chanoma borders the doma and is open on this side. There is a firepit (irori 囲炉裏) cut into the floor up against this edge of the room, a placement that has the advantage over a more centrally-positioned irori of being convenient to the doma to allow easy transfer of food, fuel, pots etc. without having to lean into or enter (step up into) the chanoma. The disadvantage is that only three sides of the irori are available for seating, compared to four if the irori is placed ‘inland’. The nando is extremely closed off, but all partitions stop below uchi-nori height; above this height the rooms are continuous.

Interior view of the Furui house, looking from the niwa across the bamboo and mat-floored chanoma with its perimeter irori to the nando with sliding door open. The closed entry to the zashiki is on the left.

Interior view of the Furui house, looking across the zashiki towards the blind gable wall, showing scalloped floorboards and Shintо̄ shrine (hokora 祠).

Interior view of the Furui house, looking from the nando across the chanoma to the niwa.

Interior view of the Furui house, looking from the chanoma into the nando.

The building is three ken (間; the modern ken is 1.818m) in width (harima 梁間), and six ken in length (keta-yuki 桁行); the perimeter space between inner and outer posts (geya 下屋) is enclosed on all four sides and the inner posts (joya-bashira 上屋柱) are free-standing within the interior at a pitch of one ken. The timber members have a scalloped (hamaguri-ba 蛤刃) finish, and there are many other attributes that speak of the building’s age. The fully plastered (nuri-gome 塗籠 earth-walled (tsuchi-kabe 土壁) gable-end (tsuma-gawa 妻側) walls are both blind, and the toilet and bath are placed just off and to the sides of the entrance (kado-guchi (門口); these features are characteristic of the minka of this region.

Though rare, front-zashiki three-room minka can also be found among the old Yamato muna-zukuri (大和棟造り, lit. ‘Yamato ridge construction’) houses of the Yamato (大和) and Kawachi (河内) regions, in modern-day Nara and О̄saka Prefectures.

JAPANESE MINKA XXXVIII- PLANNING 16: THREE-ROOM DWELLINGS 5

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).

JAPANESE MINKA XXXVII- PLANNING 15: THREE-ROOM DWELLINGS 4

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.

JAPANESE MINKA XXXVI - PLANNING 14: THREE-ROOM DWELLINGS 3

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).

JAPANESE MINKA XXXV- PLANNING 13: THREE-ROOM DWELLINGS 2

In this second entry on three-room layout (san-madori ３間取り) minka, we will consider the ‘front doma’ type (mae-doma-gata 前土間型), of which the plan below is a prototypical example.

The front-doma layout is a subtype of the hiroma type (hiroma-gata 広間型), but with the entry to the doma in the gable-end or short side, tsuma-gawa 妻側) of the building, rather than in the long side (hira-gawa 平側) as in the hiroma type. The use and arrangement of rooms in the gable-entry (tsuma-iri 妻入り) mae-doma-gata is identical to that of the side-entry (hira-iri 平入り) hiroma-gata, but the path of development is somewhat different. The front doma layout is common from northern Shiga Prefecture to the Hokuriku district Prefectures of Fukui, Ishikawa, and Toyama. The dwelling is an A-frame construction (mata-date-zukuri 股建て造り) ‘hut’ (kari-ya 仮家, lit. ‘temporary house’) in a mountainous region of Toyama Prefecture. The only interior partitions are mats hung from the roof beams. The three rooms have board floors, with the boards laid on korobashi-neda (転ばし根太), joists (neda 根太) that sit directly on the earth floor.

Plan of a prototypical front-doma type (mae-doma-gata 前土間型) three-room (san-madori ３間取り) dwelling, an A-frame construction (mata-date-zukuri 股建て造り) hut (kari-ya 仮家, lit. ‘temporary house’), partitioned with hanging mats. Labelled are the doma, here called niwa (にわ), with toilet (benjo べんじょ), window (mado まど), and hanging mat (tsuri-mushiro 吊り莚); the board-floored (ita-shiki 板敷) ‘living room’ (oe おえ) with sliding door (hiki-do 引き戸), firepit (irori, marked ro ろ), and paper-covered sliding partitions (akari-shо̄ji あかりしょうじ); the bedroom (nedoko ねどこ), and the combined Buddhist altar room (butsuma ぶつま) and storage room (nando なんど). Toyama Prefecture.

The plan below is of a minka in northern Nagano Prefecture, a thatch-walled (kaya-kabe 茅壁), ‘earth-living’ (doza 土座) dwelling of primitive character. The bedroom (nema ねま) is partitioned, but elsewhere partitions have not developed, and the interior remains largely open.

Plan of a thach-walled (kaya-kabe 茅壁) front-doma type (mae-doma-gata 前土間型) three-room layout (san-madori ３間取り) earth floor dwelling (doza-sumai 土座住まい). This plan gable-entry (tsuma-iri 妻入り) and without a chūmon.

Labelled are the doma (土間), called here the niwa (にわ), for agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 農作業), food preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整) and food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵); the earth-sitting (doza 土座) ‘living room’ (naka-no-ma なかのま), for handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), dining (shokuji 食事), ‘family time’ (danran 団らん), entertaining guests (о̄tai 応対), and family sleeping (kazoku shūshin 家族就寝), with firepit (irori, marked ro 炉), sliding door (to と) with sill (shikii 敷居, marked shi し), threshold (kamachi カマチ), and mostly open (kaihо̄ 開放) walls; the ground joist (korobashi-neda 転ばし根太) and board floored (ita-yuka 板床) zashiki (ざしき), for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事) and receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), with Buddhist altar (butsuma, marked 卍); and the the earth-sitting bedroom (nema ねま) with hanging mat (tsuri-mushiro 吊り莚), for husband and wife sleeping (fūfu shūshin 夫婦就寝) and storage (shūnо̄ 収納). Nagano Prefecture.

The photograph below, of the interior of a three-room minka in Nagano Prefecture, shows a very similar layout to those shown in the plans above, except that the plan is mirror-flipped, with the bedroom on the left and the zashiki on the right. A more significant difference is that the building is a chūmon-zukuri (中門造り) structure, a form of L-plan minka where the doma extends out from the facade (to the right in the photograph), and this extension (chūmon 中門, lit. ‘central gate’) contains the entry passage and adjoining stable (umaya 厩). The positioning of the entry in the chūmon, on the long side of the building, effectively makes this a type of hiroma-gata layout rather than a front-doma layout.

Interior view of a front-doma type (mae-doma-gata 前土間型) three-room (san-madori ３間取り) earth floor dwelling (doza-sumai 土座住まい). From front to back are the doma, then the hiroma, then the rearmost rooms, a zashiki on the right and bedroom (shinshitsu 寝室) on the left. Only the bedroom is enclosed; elsewhere there is nothing in the way of partitions, with the divisions between rooms only marked by stepped threshold members (kamachi 框). The bedroom, with hanging mat (tsuri-mushiro 吊り莚) over the entrance, is more of a sleeping closet or ‘step-in’ (fumi-komi 踏込み) room; perhaps, given its high sill (shiki-i 敷居), ‘step-over’ would be a more apt translation. Nagano Prefecture.

The Shinano-Akiyama no Minka (信濃秋山の民家), the former Yamada residence (kyū-Yamada-ke jūtaku 旧山田家住宅), is another example of the chūmon-zukuri plan-form, with the entry in the chūmon rather than in the gable end. It can be found at the Open Air Museum of Japanese Farmhouses (Nihon Minka Shūraku Hakubutsukan 日本民家集落博物館) in Toyonaka City (豊中市), О̄saka Prefecture, to where it was relocated from its original site in Akiyama-gо̄ (秋山郷), an area that straddles the border between Nagano and Niigata Prefectures.; it is a nationally-designated important cultural property (kuni-shitei jūyо̄-bunkazai 国指定重要文化財).

The Shinano-Akiyama no Minka (信濃秋山の民家), a chūmon-zukuri construction (中門造り): the doma is extended out from the facade to form an L-plan.

Floor plan of the three-room layout (san-madori ３間取り)Shinano-Akiyama no Minka (信濃秋山の民家).

JAPANESE MINKA XXXIV - PLANNING 12: THREE-ROOM DWELLINGS 1

After examining two-room minka over the last six posts, the next subject for consideration in this long series on minka planning is, logically and predictably, three-room minka.

In the three-room layout type (san-madori-gata 三間取り型), a zashiki (座敷) is added to the ‘living-dining’ room (hiroma 広間) and bedroom (nema 寝間) that constitute the two-room layout type (ni-madori-gata 二間取り型). The zashiki is a somewhat formal room without an exact European counterpart, but the closest functional equivalents might be the drawing room or the parlour; unlike those now-defunct rooms, however, zashiki are still common enough in modern Japanese houses. With the addition of the zashiki, the separation of the main activities of daily life in minka was complete, and the three-room layout eventually became the basic or ‘standard’ minka layout.

A zashiki (座敷) in a modern house, with decorative alcove (toko-no-ma 床の間) on the left, Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇) on the right, and Shintо̄ shrine (kami-dana 神棚) above the lintel on the right.

In early examples and in lower-class dwellings, the decorative alcove (tokonoma 床の間) is often omitted from the zashiki, but in its place will be a Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇). In these dwellings, the primary purpose of the zashiki was to host religious activities, particularly Buddhist memorial services, and thus it functioned as a reception room for the most distinguished guest that could ever be expected to visit: the Buddhist priest. In this light, the advent of the zashiki can be seen as the architectural expression of a shift in Japanese society whereby it became common or acceptable practice for priests to visit the homes of ordinary commoners.

The most common subtype of the three-room layout is known as the hiroma-type three-room layout (hiroma-gata san-madori 広間型三間取り), in which a general-purpose room (the hiroma 広間) fully adjoins the utility-area doma (土間), which contains the dwelling entrance; both doma and hiroma run the full width of the house. At the ‘inner’ (oku 奥) or ‘upper’ (uemi-te 上み手) part of the interior, and ‘behind’ the hiroma from the point of view of one standing in the doma, are the other two rooms, the zashiki and the bedroom (nema 寝間); in other words, the hiroma-gata san-madori is a layout in which the ‘upper’ or rear part/room of a ‘longitudinal lineup’ type two-room layout (heiretsu-shiki ni-madori 並列式二間取り) is partitioned into ‘front’ and ‘back’ rooms, with the terms front and back being in relation to the entrance/façade, i.e. along the transverse axis.

Conceptualisation of space in a minka (the example here is a one-room dwelling). There are two axes: the ‘front - back’ axis, relative to the entry/facade of the building; and the ‘in - out’ axis, relative to the doma.

A hiroma-type three-room layout (hiroma-gata san-madori 広間型三間取り).

The general purpose room goes by many names: in addition to hiroma (ひろま or 広間, lit. ‘wide space’), it may be called the jо̄i (じょうい or 常居, lit. ‘regular location’), cha-no-ma (ちゃのま or 茶の間, lit. ‘tea space’), katte (かって or 勝手, lit. ‘win hand’, meaning ‘convenience’ in the sense of ‘at one’s own convenience’, by extension ‘living’ in the sense of ‘What do you do for a living?’ by extension ‘kitchen’), daidoko (だいどこ or 台所, lit. ‘platform place’, by extension ‘kitchen’), o-ue (おうえ, perhaps お上, lit. ‘honorary prefix + ‘upper’), oe (おえ) and oie (おいえ), both probably variants of o-ue, and naka-no-ma (なかのま or 中の間, lit. ‘middle space’). The first five names all hint in some way at the room’s use; the middle three indicate that the room is entered by going up (ue 上) into it after removing one’s footwear in the doma, and the last, nakanoma, points to the room’s position as the central space in the longitudinal lineup, between the doma and the two ‘upper’ rooms.

The hiroma is the largest room in the house, and at its heart; likewise, the square firepit (irori いろり or 囲炉裏) set into the hiroma floor is at the heart of core household activities: cooking, eating, family time, and hosting neighbours, relatives, and other familiar guests. Often a kami-dana (神棚, lit. ‘god shelf’), a kind of miniature Shintо̄ shrine, is enshrined in the hiroma, above the lintel (kamoi 鴨居) and behind the seating position of the master of the house. Every member of the household has a determined seating position at the irori, just as in the Ainu chise discussed in a previous post. It is thought that most early or primitive minka were one-room layouts with an irori; this room is the ‘root’ of subsequent partitions, with other rooms derived from it over successive generations.

An iron pot hanging over an irori. Like most irori in agricultural minka (nou-minka 濃民家), this one is wood-fueled. Since minka are without chimneys or even usually ‘smoke lanterns’ at the apex of the roof, the smoke from a wood fire can only escape through openings in the walls and by rising from the ceiling-less rooms into the roof space and then leaking out through the roof thatch. The interior is smoky, but not intolerably so. Over time, the timbers of the roof structure become almost black. The smoke is not without benefit: it functions to keep the thatch dry and fumigate it against rot and vermin. In urban townhouses (machiya 町家) with irori, charcoal (sumi 炭) was the fuel of choice.

The bedroom (shinshitsu 寝室) is the first of these rooms to be separated off from the hiroma, and is called variously the nando (なんど or 納戸, lit. ‘store door’), nema (ねま or 寝間, lit. ‘sleep space’), nedoko (ねどこ or 寝所, lit. ‘sleep place’), chо̄dai (ちょうだい, 帳台 or 帳代, lit. ‘curtain platform’), heya (へや or 部屋, ‘room’), and so on; its primary roles were as a room for the husband and wife, a bedroom, and a storage room for family valuables and possessions. Even in small, humble minka, the zashiki was in the main used for Buddhist memorial services (butsuji 仏事), and so this room is called the butsuma (ぶつま or 仏間, lit. ‘Buddha space’), bо̄sama zashiki (坊様座敷, lit. ‘monk/priest zashiki), kyūsoku-no-ma (出居の間, lit. ‘repose space’), dei (出居, lit. ‘go out location’), and so on. Dei is so named from the fact that the master goes out (出張る debaru or deharu, to go (out) for some formal or official purpose) of the jо̄i to receive the guest in the dei. Though in reality of course the zashiki was also used for other purposes, the fact that perhaps 25% of the raised-floor area of the house was dedicated to ceremonial practice somewhat contradicts the common notion that the Japanese are irreligious, and indicates the importance of religious observance and ancestor veneration in Japan, or in pre-modern Japan at least.

JAPANESE MINKA XXXIII - PLANNING 11: TWO-ROOM DWELLINGS 6

The remarkable plan shown below, with degree of symmetry rare in Japanese vernacular architecture, is of a minka on Hachijо̄ Island (Hachijо̄-jima 八丈島), about 300km south of Tо̄kyо̄. The layout is a transverse division (tate-bunwari 竪分割) longitudinal lineup (heiretsu-gata 併列型 or 並列型) two-room layout (ni-madori 二間取り), like those of the Iya district in Shikoku discussed in the previous post, but here the dining room-like space is called the soto-no-ma (そとのま, lit. ‘outside room’ or ‘outer room’), and the zashiki-like room the uchi-no-ma (そとのま, lit. ‘inside room’ or ‘inner room’). In the basic type, there is also a hari-dashi (張り出し, lit. ‘extension’) at the rear; this space is for cooking (sui-ji 炊事) and is usually called the kokku-ba (コック場, lit. ‘cook place’; kokku is possibly a loanword from the Dutch kok) in practice.

Around their perimeter the two rooms are wrapped with both enclosed corridor-like spaces called en-no-ma (えんのま or 縁の間) and unenclosed board-floored verandah-like ‘runs’ called nure-en (ぬれえん or 濡れ縁). There appears to be a fixed partition between the two rooms; to move between rooms, one would simply go around it, via the en-no-ma on either side. To strengthen the structure against typhoons, there are four posts arranged in a square in each corner of the building; in addition, each corner has an external windbreak screen called an ori-mawashi (折り回し, lit. ‘fold-around’). The space formed by the four posts in each corner is used as a closet (oshi-ire 押入, marked 入on the plan).

Development of the plan is by way of extending the thatched eave at the rear to produce a bedroom (chо̄dai ちょうだい) and transforming the kokku-ba into a partly raised-floored, partly earth-floored kitchen space. Though there are rare examples where partitions have been added and the nure-en at left and right (the gable ends) enclosed to form a three-room longitudinal lineup (san-shitsu heiretsu-gata ３室並列型) house, the more typical development path in response to an increase in the size of the family is to erect a new detached structure (hanare はなれ or 離れ, lit. ‘separate’) called a jigura (ぢぐら) alongside the main building (known as the bо̄e ぼーえ).

Plan of a minka on Hachijо̄-jima. All Hachijо̄-jima minka are, or are based on, the ‘longitudinal lineup’ (heiretsu-gata 併列型 or 並列型) two-room plan-form (ni-madori 二間取り). The plan may develop by adding or expanding the hari-dashi at the rear, as illustrated by the two smaller plans on the right: a bedroom (寝) and partly-earth floored ‘kitchen-dining’ room (台) are added to the original soto-no-ma (居) and uchi-no-ma (座). However, since there is a limit to the floor area that can be obtained by this path of development without completely altering the roof structure, often the house was expanded instead by adding separate, detached buildings such as a ‘granny flat’ (inkyo-ya 隠居家, lit. ‘retirement house’) called a jigura (ぢぐら).

External view of a minka very similar to the one shown in the plan above. Hachijо̄-jima.

An ensemble of detached buildings on Hachijо̄-jima. One of the four corner windbreak screens (ori-mawashi 折り回し) is visible on the main building (bо̄e ぼーえ), the rearmost building in the image. The structures in front of it are a raised-floor storehouses (taka-kura 高倉), fertiliser storehouses (taihi-kura 堆肥倉), or the like.

The minka plan shown below, from the island of Amami О̄shima (奄美大島), is basically the same as those from Hachijо̄-jima, with two rooms fully wrapped by a perimeter corridor called the shuen (しゅえん) and four posts in each corner. Somewhat confusingly, however, the Amami О̄shima minka is classified as a transverse lineup layout (jūretsu-gata 縦列型), not a longitudinal lineup layout (heiretsu-gata 並列型) as in the Hachijо̄-jima example, despite the fact that the rooms are ‘stacked’ or lined up along the ridgepole axis (i.e. longitudinally, at least in reference to the ridgepole) in both examples. This is presumably because the main entry to the Amami О̄shima minka is in the ‘gable wall’ (the short side) rather than in the long side of the building, making it in effect a ‘front doma’ type (mae-doma-gata 前土間型); thus ‘transverse’ in this example is considered to be along the ridgepole axis. At any rate, the distinction is somewhat moot when the doma or doma-equivalent utility space is housed in a separate building.

The omote, here called the umutei (うむてい) is the public-facing room; to the rear of this is the neisho (ねいしょ), corresponding to the family bedroom. This main building is called the uiyā (ういやー). At the rear (the gable end opposite to the entry side) the eave is extended out to form a cooking area (suiji-ba 炊事場); the opening linking this area to the shuen is called the yado-guchi (やどぐち). The path of development is as follows: the neisho in the uiyā is partitioned into two, producing another bedroom (nandon なんどん) for the husband and wife; the uiyā might then develop into a front-zashiki three-room layout (mae-zashiki-gata san-madori 前座敷型三間取り); with the growth of the family, detached buildings, such as tо̄gura (とうぐら) for living and cooking, and/or nakae (なかえ) for living and sleeping, might be successively added. This ‘separate building’ development path has its advantages and disadvantages: it allows greater privacy (though privacy was never much emphasised in traditional Japanese architecture or society), provides fire-separation, and preserves the aesthetic purity, simplicity and openness of the two-room plan; on the other hand, it requires one to go outside and ‘into the weather’ when moving between functions, which is why it is only found in the sub-tropical climates of the southernmost areas of Japan.

The larger plan on the left is of a transverse lineup type (jūretsu-gata 縦列型) two-room layout (ni-madori 二間取り) raised-floor dwelling (taka-yuka jūkyo 高床住居) on Amami О̄shima. Labelled are the living room (umutei うむてい), bedroom (neisho ねいしょ), ‘verandah’ (shuen しゅえん), rear entry (yado-guchi やどぐち), and sliding doors (to と).

The smaller plans on the right illustrate a possible path of development of this type of minka. The first plan, the basic form (kihon-gata 基本型), is a transverse lineup type (jūretsu-gata 縦列型) two-room layout (ni-madori ２間取り). The single building, the uiyā (ういやー), contains a living room (za 座) and bedroom (ne 寝), with a lean-to (geya 下屋) at the rear for cooking (sui 炊). In the second plan, the bedroom is divided to obtain a second bedroom or storeroom (nо̄ 納), resulting in a front-zashiki type three-room layout (mae-zashiki-gata san-madori 前座敷型３間取り), and a separate building (hanare 離れ) called tо̄gura (とうぐら) is added; the tо̄gura contains a living room (i 居) and kitchen (sui 炊). The two buildings are connected by a short corridor. In the third plan, the second building becomes the nakae (なかえ) with living room (i 居) and bedroom (ne 寝), and the title tо̄gura (とうぐら) is transferred to a third building, an earth-floored cookhouse (sui 炊).

External view of a minka on Amami О̄shima of the same layout as that shown in the plan above. The perimeter of this minka is different to the open ‘verandah’ (engawa 縁側) typically found on mainland minka: here it is enclosed with board walls (ita-kabe 板壁). Unusually for Amami О̄shima, the building features a shingled (koba-buki こば葺き) roof. This has the advantage of allowing a significantly shallower roof pitch than is possible with thatch (which would leak), thus reducing wind loads on the roof in a typhoon-prone region.

Exterior view showing the ‘separate buildings’ path of development of Amami О̄shima minka. In this case the total house consists of two buildings (ni-tou ２棟, lit. ‘two ridges’). In the foreground on the right is the main building (shuya 主家) called the uiyaa (ういやー); on the left behind it is the ‘cookhouse’ (suijitо̄ 炊事棟) called the tо̄gura (とうぐら). The two buildings are connected by a short corridor (watari-en 渡縁).

JAPANESE MINKA XXXII - PLANNING 10: TWO-ROOM DWELLINGS 5

In this entry on two-room layouts (ni-madori 二間取り), we will consider a few examples of mu-doma taka-yuka keishiki (無土間高床形式), or ‘no-doma raised-floor type’ two-room minka, in which there is no earth-floored utility area (doma 土間). In its place, there is a raised-floor (taka-yuka 高床) space that fulfils all the functions of the doma; unlike the doma, however, this space also hosts ‘non-utility’ activities such as dining, and is thus considered a fully-fledged room and counted as such when it comes to classifying a plan-form.

The plan below, from the mountainous Iya (祖谷) district in Shikoku, is a ‘transverse division’ (tate-bunwari 竪分割), ‘longitudinal lineup’ (heiretsu-gata 併列型 or 並列型) two-room plan-form (ni-madori 二間取り). It consists of a ‘dining-kitchen’ room called the uchi-no-ma (うちのま) and a zashiki-like room called the omote-no-ma (おもてのま) that combines the functions of ‘living room’ (omote) and ‘formal room’ (zashiki). Without a doma, entry is instead via the board-floored ‘verandah’ (kiri-en 切り縁) running the full length of the front/façade side of the building. There is a full partition between the two rooms, and the ‘living functions’ (seikatsu-naiyou 生活内容) of the uchi-no-ma are substantial, qualifying this as a true two-room dwelling. Both rooms contain a firepit (usually irori いろり, in the local dialect yururi ゆるり).

A ‘transverse division’ (tate-bunwari 竪分割) ‘longitudinal lineup’ (heiretsu-gata 併列型 or 並列型) two-room plan-form (ni-madori 二間取り) from the Iya (祖谷) district in Shikoku. The 15-mat (approx. 25m²) uchi-no-ma (うちのま) is counted as a room. It contains the firepit (yururi ゆるり), sink (nagashi ナガシ), water (mizu 水), tea preparation area (mizu-ya 水や) and stove (kamado かまど). The 12.5-mat (approx. 20m²) ‘living room’ (omote-no-ma おもてのま) contains another firepit, closets (oshi-komi 押込み), Buddhist altar (marked 卍), and Shinto ‘shrine’ (kami-dana 神棚). On the ‘verandah’ (kiri-en 切り縁) are the bathing area (mokuyoku-jо̄ 沐浴場) and toilet (benjo 便所).

Compare the plan above with another fully board-floored minka covered in a previous post on one-room dwellings (hito-ma sumai ひと間住まい), shown below. Here, although the doma equivalent (in this case called the uchi うち) is a board-floored space (ita-ma 板間), it hosts only utility activities, and there is only a board screen (ita-kakoi 板囲い) between the uchi and the omote (おもて), not full, operable fittings (tategu 建具). For these reasons it is classified as a one-room layout (hito-ma dori ひと間取り or isshitsu-gata １室型).

A one-room (hito-ma dori ひと間取り) minka with a board-floored (ita-ma 板間) ‘doma’ (here called the uchi うち) that is not counted as a room.

An unusual feature of minka in the Iya area is that the toilet (benjo 便所) and bathing place (mokuyoku-jо̄ 沐浴場) are given prominent position in the middle of the south-facing façade, which may seem irrational to anyone accustomed to wet areas being hidden away on the dark side of the house. Perhaps this was the result of the desire for sunlight (hygiene) and warmth, or to avoid having to route wastewater away from the upslope side of the house, or to obtain the floor-to-ground height necessary for a ‘drop’ or pit toilet and make collection of waste more convenient. The original conditions that motivated it may have been long forgotten by the time these minka were surveyed in the mid-20th century, with the plan-form surviving due to the inertia of custom.

Exterior of a longitudinal lineup (heiretsu-gata 併列型) three-room (san-madori ３間取り) minka in the Iya district of Shikoku. The toilet (benjo 便所) and bathing place (mokuyoku-jо̄ 沐浴場), given privacy by only a basic privacy screen, can be seen projecting from the facade.

On the northern, ‘mountain side’ of these minka there is a narrow interior space formed between the rows of inner posts (jо̄ya-bashira 上屋柱) and outer posts (geya-bashira 下屋柱). Storage (oshi-komi 押込み), Buddhist altars (butsudan 仏壇), Shintо̄ shrines (kami-dana 神棚, lit. ‘god shelf’) and even small bedrooms (shinshitsu 寝室) might be inserted into these spaces, in accordance with the post spacing (hashira-wari 柱割り).

With rising individual fortunes and general progress over time, many of these two-room minka developed into three-room ‘longitudinal lineup’ (san-shitsu heiretsu 三室併列) layouts, and then eventually into staggered (kui-chigai 食違い) or regular (seikei 整形) six-room layouts (roku-madori 六間取り).

Example of the transformation of a ‘longitudinal lineup’ two-room layout (ni-madori ２間取り) minka (first plan) in the Iya district into a longitudinal lineup (heiretsu-gata 併列型), three-room (san-madori ３間取り) then four-room layout, with separate bedroom/s, then into a staggered (kui-chigai-kata 食違い型) six-room (roku-madori ６間取り) layout, and finally into a regular (seikei 整形) six-room layout (roku-madori ６間取り).

In the mansions and villas (yashiki 屋敷) of the upper classes, complex layouts provisioned with formal entry ‘vestibules’ (genkan 玄関) and ‘upper rooms’ (jо̄dan-no-ma 上段の間, formal rooms whose floor level is a step above that of the regular rooms) can also be seen.

A jо̄dan-no-ma (上段の間) in an upper-class residence.

JAPANESE MINKA XXXI - PLANNING 9: TWO-ROOM DWELLINGS 4

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.

JAPANESE MINKA XXX - PLANNING 8: TWO-ROOM DWELLINGS 3

Shown below is a two-room (ni-madori ２間取り) L-plan house (kagi-ya-zukuri 鍵家造り, lit. ‘key house construction’), a type relatively common in the Musashino (武蔵野) district, current day Saitama Prefecture, in which a bedroom (oku おく) has been added to the rear of the single-room zashiki (ざしき) to form the ‘L’. This type of plan-form is called ushiro-zuno (うしろづの, lit. ‘rear corner’) or ushiro-magari (うしろまがり, lit. ‘rear bend’). As these names suggest, the ushiro-zuno/magari differs from the typical kagi-ya in that the ‘leg’ of the L is at the rear, and not on the façade side of the house. Development of the plan is as follows: first, part of the large doma is given a board floor to become the hiroma (広間), resulting in something close to a hiroma-type three-room layout (hiroma-gata san-madori 広間型三間取り); the plan may then further develop into a four-room layout (yon-madori 四間取り).

An L-plan house (kagi-ya 鍵家) in Saitama Prefecture. Labelled are the main room (zashiki ざしき) for receiving and entertaining guests (sekkyaku, о̄tai 接客, 応対), ‘events’ or ‘functions’ (gyо̄ji 行事), sleeping (shūshin 就寝), and containing an alcove (toko とこ) and Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇) indicated with a swastika (manji 卍); the bedroom (oku おく) used for sleeping (shūshin 就寝), storage of family possessions (kazai-okiba 家財置場), and as a childbirth room (sanshitsu 産室), with a separate passage (tsūro 通路) for the midwife (sanpu 産婦); the doma, here called the daidokoro (だいどころ), for food preparation (shokumotsu-chо̄sei 食物調整), food storage (shokuryо̄-chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 農作業), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), and containing the main entrance (tobukuchi とぶくち), rear entrance (setoguchi せとくち), stoves (kamaba かまば), and firepit (irori いろり), which unusually is located up against the walls in a corner.

The smaller plan below is an example of a kagi-ya that has developed a third room, a living room (ima 居間, here i 居), by adding a timber floor to part of the doma. In addition to the bedroom (nema 寝間, here ne 寝) that forms the initial wing or leg of the ‘L’, it also has a second leg: the ‘kitchen’ area (marked kama 釜) extended out from the original doma, making the plan arguably more of a ‘C-plan’, called in Japanese kudo-zukuri (くど造り, lit. ‘stove construction’, after the fact that some stoves have the shape of a comma or C).

Exterior view of a modest kagi-ya

JAPANESE MINKA XXXIX - PLANNING 7: TWO-ROOM DWELLINGS 2

Shown below is a plan-form common in the Kawachi (河内) district (in what is now О̄saka Prefecture) of the Yamato region of western Japan. The plan is classified as a ‘longitudinal division’ or yoko-bunwari (横分割) layout. Confusingly, it also falls under the sub-classifications jūretsu-gata (縦列型, lit. ‘transverse line-up type’) or tate-narabi (竪ならび or 竪並び, lit. ‘transverse line-up’); these sub-classifications are redundant in the case of two-room minka and add no information to the yoko-bunwari classification, but will become significant when we get around to considering minka with three or more rooms.

At this point a digression into plan-form naming conventions might be in order (refer to table below for the schematic representation). The seeming contradiction of a plan being described as both ‘longitudinal’ (yoko 横) and ‘transverse’ (tate 縦 or 竪) can be explained by the fact that, while the direction of the divisions (the walls) is longitudinal (yoko), the resultant ‘ganging’ or ‘stacking’ of the rooms is in the transverse direction (tate), just as if you stack some blocks into a tower, the lines between the blocks are horizontal (yoko), but the tower itself is vertical (tate).

Conversely, the other main classification of minka plan-forms, ‘transverse division’ or tate-bunwari (竪分割), has its own sub-classifications: heiretsu-gata (併列型 or 並列型), lit. ‘parallel/horizontal line-up type’; hei 併 can be considered equivalent in meaning to yoko, i.e. ‘longitudinal’) and yoko-narabi (横ならび or 横並び, lit. ‘longitudinal line-up’). In this case, while the direction of the divisions (the walls) is transverse (tate), the resultant ‘ganging’ or ‘stacking’ of the rooms is in the longitudinal direction (yoko), just as the lines between the books on a bookshelf are vertical (tate), but the line of books itself is horizontal (yoko). Again these sub-classifications are redundant in the case of two-room minka and add no information to the tate-bunwari classification until we get to discussing three-room minka.

At any rate, the plan features a large doma, here called a niwa (にわ) with an enclosure near the entrance called the shimo-mise (しもみせ) or shimo-beya (しもべや) for the storage of agricultural implements; in other regions there would normally be a stable (umaya 廐) in this position. At the rear of the doma is the kama-ya (釜屋), the cooking area containing the stove (kama 釜). In front of the kama-ya is a bulkhead (tare-kabe 垂れ壁, lit. ‘hanging wall’) whose purpose is to prevent smoke from the stove from spreading to the habitable rooms of the house. The front part of the timber-floored (yuka-za 床座) area is occupied by the public-facing (omote-muki 表向き) room called the oku (おく), equivalent of the zashiki (座敷); at the rear is the oie (おいえ), corresponding to a ‘family/dining’ room. At the boundary of the niwa and the raised floor rooms is a kind of ochi-en (落ち縁, lit. ‘dropped edge’), a board-floored area lower than the raised floor rooms but higher than the niwa. Here the ochi-en is called a hamayuka (浜床, lit. ‘shore floor’) or hiroshiki (広敷, lit. ‘wide spread’). In older minka, instead of a fixed ochi-en there might have been a moveable oki-yuka-tsukue (置床几, lit. ‘put floor table’). There are closets (oshi-ire 押入) in the two rooms, but no decorative alcove (tokonoma 床の間) or Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇).

A 縦列型２間取り in the Kawachi district of О̄saka Prefecture. The smaller plans below the main plan show the plan-form development of minka in this area from single-room, to extension of the interior by the enclosure of the area under the eaves into a two-room plan, further extending and enclosing the eaves, adding a bedroom to make a front-zashiki three-room layout (mae-zashiki-gata san-madori 前座敷型３間取り), to the addition of a ‘Buddha room’ (butsuma 仏間) to arrive at a regular four-room plan-form (seikei yon-madori 整形４間取り).

The five plan diagrams below the main floor plan present the simplest path of evolution of this plan-form. The one-room dwelling is the departure point; first the perimeter area under the eaves is infilled and the dwelling expands into a two-room dwelling; the plan develops into a front-zashiki layout (mae-zashiki-gata 前座敷型) and then into a regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori 整形４間取り). A board ‘verandah’ (nure-en 濡れ縁) is added at the front of the zashiki, making the space more open and formal in character. The two-room ‘longitudinal division’ (yoko-bunwari 横分割) minka characteristic of this region does not evolve into a regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori 整形４間取り) via a three-room hiroma-gata san-madori (広間型３間取り) stage, as is the case with the ‘transverse division’ (tate-bunwari 竪分割) plan-form, but rather via an intermediate three-room front-zashiki (mae-zashiki-gata san-madori 前座敷型３間取り) stage.

Table of plan-form classifications.

Note the different paths taken by the two possible forms of two-room layout (here ni-shitsu-gata ２室型) in their evolution into regular (seikei 整形) or staggered (kui-chigai 食違い) four-room layouts (yon-madori ４間取り): the ‘transverse division’ (tate-bunwari 竪分割) two-room layout first becomes a ‘hiroma-type’ three-room layout (hiroma-gata san-madori 広間型３間取り) before gaining a fourth room; whereas the ‘longitudinal division’ (yoko-bunwari 横分割) two-room layout first becomes a ‘front zashiki’ three-room layout (mae-zashiki-gata san-madori 前座敷型３間取り) before gaining a fourth room.

Exterior view of a two-room jūretsu-gata (縦列) minka similar to that shown in the plan above. The exterior is extended out under the tiled eaves. О̄saka Prefecture.

The plans below are another example of a two-room ‘transverse line-up’ (jūretsu ni-madori 縦列２間取り) minka evolving over a series of incremental expansions into a regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori 整形４間取り) with a large and complex doma (どま).　　

A minka in Nagano prefecture that over successive additions has developed from its initial ‘transverse line-up’ layout (jūretsu ni-madori 縦列２間取り), with a strongly closed character, into a regular four room plan-form (seikei yon-madori 整形４間取り). First the doma is extended and organised into different functional areas. Finally the raised-floor part is extended with the addition of formal rooms for receiving guests. Labelled are the earth-floored doma (どま) with entrance (о̄to 大戸), ‘bedroom’ (goza (ござ), ‘living room’ (chanoma ちゃのま, lit. ‘tea room’), ‘tool room’ (miso-beya みそべや), kitchen (daidokoro だいどころ), stable (umaya うまや), firepit (irori いろり), sink (nagashi ながし), toilet (benjo 便所), stove (kamado かまど), shelving (todana 戸棚), rice (kome 米), closet (oshi-ire 押入), decorative alcove (toko とこ), front formal room (mae-deno-zashiki まえでのざしき), rear formal room (oku-deno-zashiki おくでのざしき), verandah (nure-en 濡れ縁, not labelled), ‘god shelf’ (kami-dana 神棚) and Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇) indicated with a swastika (manji 卍). The black circles represent the original or ‘old’ posts (ko-bashira 古柱); the circles with diagonal line through them are ‘middle old’ posts (chūko-bashira) added in the second stage; open circles are the ‘new’ posts (shin-bashira) added in the third stage.

JAPANESE MINKA XXXVIII - PLANNING 6: TWO-ROOM DWELLINGS 1

After covering single-space dwellings (tanshitsu sumai 単室住まい) and one-room dwellings (hito-ma sumai ひと間住まい) in the previous five posts in this series on minka planning, the logical next step is to consider two-room dwellings (futa-ma sumai 二間住まい). Obviously the addition of a second room, and then the development of two-room minka into dwellings of three, four or more rooms, introduces many more complexities and layout possibilities than are possible in a one-room dwelling, and so this and subsequent sections will be correspondingly longer.

The two-room plan-form (futa-madori-gata 二間取り型 or ni-shitsu-gata２室型) consists of three spaces: 1) the (usually) earth-floored utility area (doma 土間), which is considered a ‘given’ and not counted as a room; 2) a multi-functional ‘living room’; and 3) a room whose name, nema (寝間, lit. ‘sleep space’) for example, generally relates to its role as a bedroom, but which also doubles as a space for various other activities during the day. The arrangement of these three spaces relative to one another in any minka determines the classification of its plan-form into one of two general types: 1) ‘transverse division’ (tate bunwari 竪分割; tate 竪 is often translated as ‘vertical’ but has a wider, harder to capture sense of ‘height’, ‘front-back’, ‘north-south’, etc.), in which the internal partition between the two rooms runs transversely, i.e. perpendicular to the roof ridge; and 2) ‘longitudinal division’ (yoko bunwari 横分割; yoko 割 can mean ‘horizontal’, but also ‘side-to-side’ etc.), in which the principal partition is longitudinal, i.e. parallel to the ridge. These two types form the basis for all other multi-room layouts.

The table below presents plan-forms for (from left to right) one-room (hito-ma sumai ひと間住まい, here isshitsu-gata １室型) , two-room (ni-shitsu-gata ２室型), three-room (san-shitsu-gata ２室型), four-room (yon-shitsu-gata ４室型) with its ‘staggered’ (kui-chigai 食違い) and ‘standard’ (hyо̄jun 標準) regular (seikei 整形) forms (kata 型), and multi-room (tashitsu-gata 多室型) minka. The ridges of these dwellings run left-right (horizontally) on the page; doma are omitted but should be visualised as positioned to the right of the rooms in each plan.

Ideally, minka are oriented with one long side facing south, and this side is the front or façade of the dwelling; although of course in reality topography and other considerations mean that there are plenty of minka oriented in other directions, minka almost always have a dominant façade. In the table, the façade corresponds to the lower edge of the plans, i.e. north is at the top of the page, south at the bottom, east to the right, and west to the left). This means that there are two ‘front/public - rear/private’ axes at play in the typical minka: the east-west (right-left in the table) axis that relates to the position of the (east-positioned) doma, and the south-north (bottom-top in the table) axis that relates to the position of the façade, or ultimately to the position of the midday sun.

There are really only two possible two-room plan-forms: tate bunwari (竪分割) and yoko bunwari (横分割). In the prototypical tate bunwari plan, both rooms run the full width of the house. The ‘front room’, corresponding functionally to a ‘living room’ and called the hiroma (ひろま) in the table, is adjacent to and fully bounds the doma. The ‘back room’, here called the zashiki (ざしき), has no direct access to the doma; to reach the doma from the zashiki one must pass through the hiroma. Both rooms have access to the southern façade, and on this axis each room has its own front/public half to the south and rear/private half to the north. In tate bunwari the east-west doma axis is arguably the dominant of the two axes.

In yoko bunwari, both rooms bound roughly half the doma on their short sides; in the table, the ‘front’ or ‘living’ room is called the omote (おもて) and the rear ‘bedroom’ is called the nema (ねま). The doma can be accessed directly from either room, but only the omote has façade access; in yoko bunwari, the south-north façade axis is arguably dominant.

Classification table of various minka plan-forms. The two possible two-room layouts are shown in the second column under the heading ni-shitsu-gata (２室型).

Two-room minka were common among both the farmhouses (nо̄-minka 農民家) of low-status Edo period farmers, and the minka of the poor into recent times. In these houses, there were no distinguished guests or any need to host formal gatherings, and these simple plan-forms can be regarded as fulfilling all the requirements of the inhabitants. The plan below shows a fully earth-floored dwelling (doza-sumai 土座住まい) with a ‘transverse division’ (tate bunwari 竪分割) layout, with the sub-classification ‘longitudinal line-up two-room’ (heiretsu ni-madori 併列２間取り). This somewhat confusing and apparently contradictory terminology will be explained in next week’s post. The dwelling is primitive, with almost nothing in the way of openings. Such houses can be found in cold, snowy regions, where the deep accumulation of snow (multiple metres in some areas) in winter makes openings somewhat ineffective for the purpose of maximising natural light into the interior; to the contrary, windows are a liability in terms of thermal performance, so it makes sense that the dwelling essentially functions as a den or lair over the winter months.

A west-facing two-room (ni-madori２間取り) dwelling with doma (土間) and the two rooms: the general living room (zashiki ざしき) and sleeping room (dei でい). Typically the zashiki denotes the more formal, inner area, but here the nomenclature is seemingly reversed, with the dei taking that role; what is here called the zashiki is more usually called the hiroma or omote. The doma is used for farmwork (nо̄-sagyо̄ 農作業), food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), and contains the entrance (iriguchi 入口), bath (furo ふろ), and a plank-floored area for cooking (suiji 炊事), dining (shokuji 食事), and handwork (teshigoto 手仕事). The 18-mat zashiki is for dining (shokuji 食事), family (danran 団らん), socialising (kо̄sai 交際), and sleeping (shūshin 就寝). The 9-mat dei is for sleeping (shūshin 就寝), faith-related activity (shinkо̄ 信仰), and receiving guests (о̄tai 応対). Both the zashiki and dei are earth-floored (doza 土座), though covered in mats, and have ‘slat’ ceilings (sunoko tenjо̄ すのこ天井) In addition there is a stable (maya まや), toilet (shо̄ben 小便), sink (nagashi ナガシ), shelves (todana 戸棚), storage for valuables (kazai shūnо̄ 家財収納), closet or robe (oshi-ire 押入), and Buddhist altar (卍). Yamagata Prefecture.

The development of this plan-form into more complex layouts, as shown in the plan diagrams below (though note that the doma is on the right, not on the left as in the plan above), begins with separating off the sleeping area (nema 寝間) into a proper room, giving a hiroma-gata (広間型) three-room (san-madori ３間取り) plan-form; the zashiki (座敷) also becomes timber-floored (yuka-za 床座). The plan then further develops into a four-room (yon-madori ４間取り) layout, either staggered (kui-chigai 食違い) or (as here) regular (seikei 整形), and a perimeter corridor is wrapped around the living areas of the house, giving it a more open character. The nema remains earth-floored, however, suggesting that the old customs of the region were not lightly tossed aside in the face of ‘modernisation’.

An example illustrating how an entirely earth-floored (doza 土座) two-room (ni-madori ２間取り) minka (left) with ‘formal room’ (zashiki 座敷, shortened here to za 座) and ‘living room’ (ima 居間, shortened here to i 居) areas evolves into a three-room (ni-madori ２間取り) plan-form by partitioning a bedroom (nema 寝間, shortened to ne 寝) off from the zashiki; this then becomes a regular (seikei 整形) four-room (yon-madori ４間取り) layout by partitioning off a dining (shokuji 食事, here shoku 食) room from the main living area. Yamagata Prefecture.

JAPANESE MINKA XXXVII - PLANNING 5: ONE-ROOM DWELLINGS

A one-room dwelling (hito-ma sumai (ひと間住まい) is defined as a minka with both an earth-floored utility area (doma 土間) and a single raised-floor room. In many cases, the boundary between the two areas is completely open (without sliding screens or other partitions); in these minka, there is a difference in floor level between doma and raised-floor (taka-yuka 高床) room, but otherwise the dwelling is in essence a single-space dwelling (tan-shitsu sumai 単室住まい) of the type discussed in the previous four posts, indicating that in these ‘edge cases’ there can be a degree of ambiguity as to what constitutes a single-space dwelling and what constitutes and one-room dwelling.

As small-scale dwellings or dwellings for the poor, one-room minka were found in large numbers all over Japan. The example shown below, though small, satisfies all the requirements of daily life for one or two inhabitants; it is, in other words, a ‘granny flat’ intended for use by the grandparent or parents of an extended farming family. Agricultural implements and the like are kept in the doma (here called a niwa にわ); this was also where agricultural work was done, and preserves and other food were stored. The area of the raised-floor room (へや) adjacent to the sill or threshold (kamachi 框) between the two areas was used for dining (shoku-ji 食事) and hand-work (te-shigoto 手仕事). The narrow nure-en (濡れ縁) or ‘verandah’ was the house’s interface with the outside world, used for interacting with the neighbourhood and as the entry for formal or official guests, who would be welcomed in front of the Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇). The place of rest is the rear corner in front of the alcove (toko 床). From this pattern of habitation, one can imagine the interior being partitioned into a three-room hiroma-gata plan-form.

Plan of a one-room dwelling (ひと間住まい) in Shiga Prefecture (滋賀県). Labelled are the eight-mat (hachi-jо̄８帖) ‘room’ (heya へや), the earth-floored utility area (niwa にわ), entry door (to と), and the Buddhist altar (卍).

Exterior image of the minka shown in the plan above (the building in the foreground). The lattice window in the gable wall opens on to the niwa (にわ). Though in Shiga hipped-and-gabled (iri-moya zukuri 入母屋造り) minka are predominant, smaller structures such as these ‘granny flats’ are typically gable-roofed.

The plan shown below is an example of a raised-floor dwelling in Tokushima Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, with only a small earth-floored fumi-komi (踏込み) or ‘step-in’ entry. At first glance it appears to be a two-room heiretsu (併列) or parallel ‘column’ type plan-form, where the two rooms are divided by transverse (perpendicular to the roof ridge) partitions. However, although the uchi (うち) area on the left is plank-floored, the activities it hosts are identical to those of any generic doma (土間) in any other minka plan-form, so this example can be thought of as falling into the range of minka considered to be of the ‘one-room’ type.

In classifying the plan-form of a minka, only the number and arrangement of raised-floor rooms are initially taken into account. This can sometimes lead to contradiction and confusion, as in the plan below, where the the small fumi-komi for entry and footwear removal, which in a modern dwelling would be called a genkan (玄関), can be misidentified as a vestigial doma; this then leads to the misinterpretation of the uchi as a room, when the raised-floor uchi is in fact the true doma in the functional sense. There are many other examples of this type of minka without any earth-floored areas at all, not even a fumi-komi, and entry is instead via the nure-en; these too should be considered one-room dwellings.

A one-room dwelling in Tokushima Prefecture (徳島県). Labelled are the plank-floored (ita-ma 板間) utility area (uchi うち) with ‘water work’ (mizu-shigoto 水仕事) area, food storage (shokuryou chozou 食糧貯蔵) area, oven/stove (kudo くど), food preparation (tabemono chousei 食物調整) area, work area (sagyou-ba 作業場), utility entry (katte-guchi かって口), and earth-floored ‘step-in’ (fumi-komi 踏込み) for family entrance (kajin no deiri-guchi 家人の出入口); the ‘living room’ (omote おもて) contains an ‘event’ (gyou-ji 行事) area, ‘relaxation’ (yururi ゆるり) area, dining (shoku-ji 食事) family (danran 団らん) and guest (sekkyaku 接客) area, sleeping (shuushin 就寝) area, Separating the uchi and omote is a board screen (ita-kakoi 板囲い); there are no (nashi なし) operable paritions (tategu 建具).

To block noise and dust from work activities undertaken in the uchi, there is a board (ita 板) screen (kakoi 囲い) between it and the omote (おもて), but otherwise there are no partitions. The jо̄-ya bashira (上屋柱) posts stand within the room; the perimeter ge-ya (下屋) area between these posts and the external walls might house a Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇), closet (oshi-ire 押入) or alcove (tokonoma 床の間), but differentiation or allocation of this space towards storage, sleeping, or other functions is generally only loose or implied. This plan-form is common in the mountainous regions of Shikoku.

Exterior of a minka in the Iya (祖谷) region of Shikoku. Minka plan-forms in this area are ‘column’ type, with toilet and bath typically protruding out from the centre of the south facade. In the background can be seen the inkyo-ke or ‘granny flat’ which also has a column plan-form. Perhaps because of the tight, mountainous sites, the custom in this area when extra room is required is to establish a new, separate building, rather than add to the main house.

Two minka plans from the Gojima region (五島地方) of Kyūshū.

The upper plan shows a one-room dwelling from which the bedroom has been separated off. Labelled are the stable (umaya うまや) for keeping livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育); the doma (どま) with areas for food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), food preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食べ物調整), feed preparation (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整), agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業), entrance (iriguchi 入口); the raised board-floor (itama 板間) agariguchi (あがりぐち) with shelving (todana 戸棚), dining and ‘family’ area shokuji danran 食事団らん), family sleeping area (kazoku shūshin 家族就寝), Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇) indicated by swastika (manji 卍), areas for receiving (о̄tai 応対) and entertaining guests (sekkyaku 接客), and alcove (toko とこ); and bedroom (nando なんど) for sleeping (shin 寝).

Partitioning of the interior of the upper plan, according to the organisation of activities within it, would result in a staggered (kui-chigai 食違い) four-room (yon-madori ４間取り) plan-form similar to that shown in the plan below. Labelled are the stable (umaya うまや), doma (どま) with bath (furo フロ), sink (hashiri ハシリ), ‘living room’ (adanoma あだのま) with fire (ro ろ), front bedroom (naisho なしょ) with shelving (todana 戸棚), Buddhist altar (butsudan) indicated by swastika (manji 卍), rear bedroom (nando なんど), and formal room (zashiki ざしき).

JAPANESE MINKA XXXVI - PLANNING 4: SINGLE-SPACE DWELLINGS 4

In addition to the earth-floored (doza 土座) single-space dwellings (tanshitsu-sumai 単室住まい) discussed in the last few posts, there are also single-space dwellings of the raised-floor type (taka-yuka shiki 高床式). The existence of such dwellings may seem somewhat contradictory, since the ability to construct a raised floor might also imply the technical and economic capacity to construct interior walls. But in tropical or subtropical climates, an interior unobstructed by partitions has obvious benefits for cross-ventilation, able as it is to take advantage of even the slightest breeze, and warm daytime air can be more quickly and effectively purged by cool (or at least cooler) evening air.

The minka of the Nansei Islands (Nansei Shotо̄ 南西諸島) are a good example of the type. The plan below is of a minka on Amami-О̄shima (奄美大島). The hipped-roof (yose-mune 寄棟) main building (omo-ya 主屋, or in the island dialect uiyaa ういやー) and gable-roofed (kiri-zuma 切妻) ‘cookhouse’ (kamaya 釜屋, dialect tо̄gura とうぐら) almost touch at their eaves, with a single large gutter (toi 樋) running between them, effectively forming a box gutter. The main building is single-space, with a small ‘step-in’ (fumi-komi 踏込み) entrance doma (土間) and half-mat sized closet (oshi-iri 押入) contained within a lean-to structure (sashi-kake hisashi 差掛け庇) appended to it. The interior posts might appear to be ‘in the way', but if we look at the plan from the perspective of the plan-form archetypes, it can be interpreted as consisting of a two-mat ‘front room’ (omote 表; in the island dialect umutei うむてい) and two-mat ‘bedroom’ (nema 寝間; dialect neisho ねいしょ) wrapped in a three shaku (尺; one shaku is 30.3cm, three shaku is the width of a tatami mat) wide perimeter (shūi 周囲) ‘corridor’ (shūen 周縁; dialect shuen しゅえん), though in actuality the whole of this space is laid with tatami mats and used as a single room.

Plan of a single-space minka on the Amami-О̄shima. Note the hipped-roof (yose-mune 寄棟) main building (uiyaa ういやー or omoya 母屋), the separate (bettо̄ 別棟) gable-roofed (kiri-zuma 切妻) ‘cookhouse’ (kamaya 釜屋 or tо̄gura とうぐら), and the eaves gutter (toi 樋) joining the two, shown as two dashed lines. Labelled also are the ‘front room’ (omote おもて) used for receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客) and as a living space (ima 居間) and the rearward sleeping area (neisho ねいしょ or shinjo 寝所), both with tatami (タタミ) floors; the lean-to ‘step-in’ (fumi-komi 踏込み) entry doma and closet (iri 入); the cooking (suiji 炊事) and dining (shokuji 食事) space with stove (kamado カマド); a shelf (tana タナ) and areas for food (shokuryо̄ 食糧) storage (chozо̄ 貯蔵) and preparation (chо̄sei 調整) on the plank-floored perimeter ‘corridor’ area; and the location of sliding ‘doors’ (to と).

The umutei is used as a living area, to receive guests, and as a sleeping area for the family; the rearward neisho is the sleeping area for the husband and wife. The perimeter shuen around the naisho serves as a space for storing belongings, in the absence of a dedicated storage room (nando 納戸). The separate single-bay, gable-roofed tо̄gura, together with the roofed two-mat area 樋の間 (toi-no-ma, lit. ‘gutter space’) between the two buildings and under the ‘box gutter’, is the cooking (suiji 炊事) and dining (shokuji 食事) area, with the plank-floored perimeter area surrounding this space used for food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵) and preparation (chо̄sei 調整). ‘Water work’ (mizu-shigoto 水仕事) such as laundry, the bathing area (furo-ba 風呂場), and other functions were all outside, or at least not in the two main buildings. The house is small but sufficient and fulfils all the functions required of a house. A hypothetical partitioning of this plan would result in a jūretsu-shiki (縦列式) or ‘row-type’ plan-form, a subtype of the yoko-bunwari plan-form.

Photograph of the minka in the plan above, showing the lean-to entry doma and the cookhouse (tо̄gura) to the rear behind the main building (uiyaa).

The second example, shown below, is from Miyako Island (Miyako-jima 宮古島). This house consists of a two-bay square (roughly 30m2), plank-floored living area with a central post (naka-bashira 中柱) and a hipped roof, and to its west a thatched single-bay kamaya. Again, the post may seem a nuisance, but it suggests a functional division of the space into implied ‘rooms’, so that the post is not so much at the centre of a single room as it is at the intersection or boundary between multiple ‘functional zones’: the southern part is used for receiving guests and as a living area; the area adjacent to the kamaya is used for dining; the north-east corner is for sleeping, and the Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇) occupies the north-west. The space has a clear ‘front’ (omote 表) or ‘public’ area south of the post, and a ‘rear’ (ura 浦) or ‘inner’ area north of the post. Partitioning of the interior would result in a four-room cruciform plan, with the post at the centre of the cross in the plane of the partitions. This plan-form is called in Japanese ta-no-ji-gata (田の字型, lit. ‘rice field character form’) for its resemblance to the character for rice field (ta 田).

A single-space minka on Miyako Island. Labelled are the earth-floored cooking and utility area called the kamaya (かまや) with stoves to the north and water well, marked 水 (mizu, water), to the south; the Buddhist altar, marked 仏 (butsu or hotoke, Buddha), central post (naka-bashira 中柱), and hypothetical partition locations (maji-kiri sо̄tei-sen 間仕切り想定線) shown with dot-dash lines. The living area is plank-floored (ita-shiki 板敷).

JAPANESE MINKA XXXV - PLANNING 3: SINGLE-SPACE DWELLINGS ３

The plan below is of a single-space minka in the middle reaches of the Shinano River (信濃川) in Niigata Prefecture. Built some time in the mid 19th century, it was the home of a lower-class farming family; apparently many such minka were once found in the area.

A single-space (tanshitsu-sumai 単室住まい) minka with separate (bunri 分離) sleeping area (nema ねま). The whole interior is earth-floored (doza 土座). Labelled are the entrance (iri-guchi 入口), agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 農作業), handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), fire pit (irori いろり), food preparation (tabemono-chо̄sei 食物調整), food storage (shokuryо̄-chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵) dining (shoku-ji 食事), family (danran 団らん), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), ‘events’ (gyо̄ji 行事), partitioned enclosure (kakoi かこい) for the wife’s ‘retiring’ area (shufu-shūshin), and the family retiring area (kazoku-shūshin 家族就寝). The vertical dot-dash lines dividing the interior indicate hypothetical partition locations that would make this single space a three-room hiroma-gata (広間型) type interior.

The whole interior is earth-floored (doza 土座), with only the wife’s sleeping area partitioned off. The interior is close, with few windows; there are no wardrobes (oshi-iri 押入), alcoves (tokonoma 床の間) or the like, and the structural members are adze-finished. Though the building dates to the Tokugawa Shо̄gunate, it was inhabited until at least the 1950s; it might surprise some to learn that there were still ‘economically disadvantaged’ people living in such apparently primitive conditions and straitened circumstances well into the era of Japan’s ‘economic miracle’. But perhaps it was comfortable, familiar, and enough for their needs.

With its utility area (doma 土間) adjacent to the entrance, living area (hiroma 広間) with fire place (irori いろり), the more formal zashiki (座敷) or ‘public’ functions conducted in the southern part of the space, and sleeping ‘room’ (nema 寝間) to the north, a hypothetical partitioning of this minka would result in a three-room hiroma-gata (広間型) type.