JAPANESE MINKA LIV - PLANNING 32: HIROMA TYPE LAYOUTS 6

Last week’s post introduced the ‘middle-zashiki lineage’ hiroma-type layout (naka-zashiki-kei hiroma-gata 中座敷系広間型), and mentioned that it is considered to be one of the precursors of the wrapped-hiroma type (tori-maki hiroma-gata 取巻き広間型) layout.  The Shiina family (Shina-ke 椎名家) house in Ibaraki Prefecture, designated an important cultural property, is a surviving example of this transformation. When the house was dismantled for repair, an ink inscription reading 「延宝二年十二月三日」 (Enpou ni-nen juu-ni-gatsu mikka, the third day of the twelfth month of the second year of Enpou era, i.e. 1674) was discovered on the tenon of one of its lintel beams (sashi-gamoi 差鴨居), making it the oldest extant minka in eastern Japan of all those whose date of construction is inscribed somewhere on the building.

Its current layout is a wrapped hiroma type, as shown in the plan below, but a reconstructed layout, based on historical documents and on a survey of the traces left on its timber joints (shiguchi 仕口) undertaken at the time of the house’s repair, revealed that it was once a middle-zashiki lineage hiroma-type layout. This reconstructed plan is also shown below.

The Shiina house in its present state as a wrapped-hiroma layout.  Labelled are the earth-floored utility area (daidoko だいどこ), with ‘big door’ (о̄do 大戸) and stoves, for cooking (chо̄ri 調理), food preparation (shokuryо̄ chо̄sei 食糧調整), farm work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業), and storage (shūnо̄ 収納), processing (shori 処理), and drying (kansо̄ 乾燥) of tobacco leaves (tabako-ha 煙草葉); the ‘dining room’ (katte かって), with cupboard (todana 戸棚), for dining (shokuji 食事); the walk-in storage (shūnо̄ 収納) closet (mae-no-heya まえのへや); the hiroma, here cha-no-ma (ちゃのま), with Buddhist alcove (butsuma 仏間, marked 卍), shelves (tana たな), and firepit (the crossed square), for family time (danran 団らん), courting (kо̄sai 交際), handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事) and religious activities (shinkо̄ 信仰); the koma (こま, lit. ‘small room’) for entertaining (о̄tai 応対) and weaving on a loom (shokki or oriki 機織); the formal vestibule or ante-room (typically genkan 玄関, here genka げんか) with a broad, formal ‘step platform’ (shikidai 式台), for receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), entertaining, and entry of important guests (shо̄kyaku 正客); the zashiki (ざしき), for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests, and sleeping (shūshin 就寝); and the bedroom (heya へや), for sleeping and storage. 

A reconstruced plan of the Shiina house in its earlier state as a ‘middle-zashiki lineage’ hiroma-type layout.  Labelled are: the earth-floored utility area (daidoko だいどこ) with ‘big door’ (о̄do 大戸) and stove, the board-floored (ita-yuka 板床) hiroma (ひろま) or chanoma (ちゃのま), with Buddhist alcove (butsuma 仏間, marked 卍); the yogoza (よござ), presumably the ‘dining-kitchen area’, with firepit, jutting out into the daidokoro; the large bedroom (nema ねま); the zashiki (ざしき) with decorative alcove (toko とこ), and the vestibule (genkan げんかん) or ‘small room’ (koma こま). 

By comparing the present layout with the earlier, we can see that the daidoko (だいどこ) has been expanded by half a ken (0.91m) to the left, the nema (ねま) has been partitioned into the heya (へや) and the mae-no-heya (まえのへや), the yogoza (よござ) has been partitioned off from the hiroma (ひろま) to become the katte (かって), the hiroma has been divided into the cha-no-ma (ちゃのま) and the koma (こま), the zashiki (ざしき) has remained largely unchanged, and the genkan (げんかん) has been extended forward with the addition of a tiled ‘lean-to’ roof and formal shikidai (式台) step platform. While the present structure is not significantly larger than the earlier, taken together the changes suggest an increase in the status and affluence of the family over time, perhaps due to tobacco farming.

Exterior view of the Shiina house.  The four papered lattice panels (shо̄ji 障子) visible in the middle and middle-right of the facade, in front of the narrow ‘verandah’ (engawa 縁側) to the koma (こま), have replaced what were once papered lattice windows in a solid wall; the large shо̄ji, running the full length of the koma, allow the use of the engawa as an extension of the interior space in fine weather, and greatly increase natural light to the koma, necessary for the weaving for which this room is used.  To the right of the shо̄ji can be seen the tiled roof over the formal entrance to the genka with its broad step platform (shikidai 式台), obscured by trees.

JAPANESE MINKA LIII - PLANNING 31: HIROMA TYPE LAYOUTS 5

One of the prototypical forms of the ‘wrapped-hiroma’ type (tori-maki hiroma-gata 取巻き広間型) layouts discussed in recent posts is thought to be what is known as the ‘inner-zashiki’ or ‘middle-zashiki’ lineage of hiroma-type layouts (naka-zashiki-kei hiroma-gata 中座敷系広間型).  As the name suggests, in this type the main zashiki sits along the central ridge line, and to its front and rear are rooms that lie entirely within the one ken (1.818m) width of the geya (下屋, lit. ‘lower roof’) spaces: the perimeter spaces between the inner posts (上屋柱 jо̄ya-bashira) and outer posts (下屋柱 geya-bashira). These spaces developed by enclosing the ‘awning’ roofs that extend down from either side (front and back) of the ‘core’ containing the zashiki. This arrangement closely resembles that of the moya (身舎, lit. ‘body house’) and hisashi (庇, lit. ‘eave’) spaces of shinden-zukuri (寝殿造り) dwellings, the villas of the nobility from the Heian period (Heian jidai 平安時代, 8th to 12th century) into the middle ages (chuusei 中世). 

Diagrammatic section and plan of a shinden-zukuri (寝殿造り) dwelling, showing the core moya (身舎) and perimeter hisashi 庇) spaces.

The middle-zashiki layout is mainly found from the mountainous areas of Chūbu (Chūbu sanchi 中部山地) to the Tо̄hoku region (Tо̄hoku chihо̄ 東北地方). Below are three examples of the type.

The Takei family (Takei-ke 武井家) residence, Nagano Prefecture.  Labelled are: the earth-floored utility area (tо̄ri とおり) with stable (maya まや), the earth-sitting (doza 土座) hiroma, here daidoko (だいどこ), the rear one ken wide bedroom (heya へや), the middle zashiki (ざしき) with decorative alcove (toko とこ).  The front one ken wide room is unlabelled, but the fact that it contains an entry suggests that it may at least partly serve as a formal vestibule (genkan 玄関) of some kind.

The former Hirose family (Hirose-ke 広瀬家) residence, originally Yamanashi Prefecture.  Labelled are: the earth-floored utility area (doji どじ) with stable (uchi-maya うちまや), the hiroma, here idoko (いどこ) with two firepits (irori, marked ro ろ), the board (ita 板) floored bedrooms (nando なんど and nema ねま), and the zashiki (ざしき).

The Gotо̄ family (Gotо̄-ke 後藤家) residence, Iwate Prefecture.  Labelled are: the earth-floored utility area (doma どま), the rear living room or hiroma (here okami おかみ, lit. ‘honorable upper’) with firepit (irori, marked ro 炉), the front room (nakama なかま, lit. ‘middle room’), the bedroom (nando なんど), the middle zashiki (о̄dei おおでい, lit. ‘big dei’) and a front zashiki (kodei こでい, lit. ‘small dei).  All rooms are indicated as board (ita 板) floored except the о̄dei, which, given its formal status, may be tatami-floored.

The former Hirose family (Hirose-ke 広瀬家) residence, the second of the above plans, originally stood in Yamanashi Prefecture but has been relocated to the Kawasaki City Minka museum (Kawasaki-chi Minka-en 川崎市民家園) in Kanagawa Prefecture.  The room in front of the bedroom (nema ねま) has been reconstructed as a zashiki (ざしき), but the position of the partition is unnatural; rather it should be as it is in the Takei family (Takei-ke 武井家) house, the first plan above: the zashiki placed centrally, with a one ken wide room on the facade/entry side.  A survey was undertaken of this house when it stood at its original location.  The two freestanding posts in the doma, and the posts on the boundary between the idoko (いどこ) and the other rooms, together make up the main body of the structure; this four-post (excluding the central ridge-supporting udatsu-bashira うだつ柱) arrangement is known locally as ‘yotsu-tate’ (四つ建て, lit. ‘four standing’).  Other than the openings on the facade/entry side, there are only small shitaji-mado (下地窓), windows.  The shitaji (下地, lit. ‘under ground’) is the ‘subwall’ component of the wall, i.e. the base of lath or ‘wattle’ and rough earth and straw ‘daub’ infill between the structural members, to which the finish layers of plaster, if any, are applied.  Shitaji-mado (lit. ‘subwall window’) are formed by simply leaving a section of lath undaubed, and optionally papering the interior side. 

Exterior view of the Hirose house.  

Interior view of the hiroma-type layout of the Hirose house, looking from the doji (どじ) towards the mat-spread, earth-living (doza-sumai 土座住まい) main habitable room (hiroma, here idoko (いどこ) with its two firepits (irori いろり).  , The open zashiki (ざしき) can be seen on the left beyond the idoko.

Exterior view of the half-timbered gable wall of the Hirose house, with three small shitaji-mado (下地窓) windows in the lath-and-plaster (or ‘wattle-and-daub’) infill panels between the timber structural members; these windows are created by simply leaving sections of the lath lattice unplastered.

The dark, low interior of the Hirose house is an indication of the great age of the dwelling.  In both the Takei house and the Hirose house, the hiroma spaces (daidoko だいどこ and idoko いどこ) are earth-floored (doza-sumai 土座住まい, lit. ‘earth sit dwelling’); in the Gotо̄ house the hiroma space is board-floored (ita-yuka 板床) and divided into two rooms, the okami (おかみ) and the nakama (なかま).

JAPANESE MINKA LII - PLANNING 30: HIROMA TYPE LAYOUTS 4

The former residence of the Nokubi family (Nokubi-ke 野首家), relocated from the Katano district (Katano-chо̄ 片野町) of Takayama (高山), Gifu Prefecture, to the Hida Folk Village (Hida Minzoku Mura 飛騨民俗村), also in Takayama, is a wrapped-hiroma type (tori-maki hiroma-gata 取巻き広間型) layout minka thought to date from the early Edo Period (Edo jidai 江戸時代, 1603 - 1868), and a Prefecturally and Municipally designated cultural property.

The zashiki (here the dei でい) and bedrooms (oku おく) are board-floored (ita-yuka 板床) and mat-spread (mushiro-shiki 莚敷), but the hiroma (here the oei おえい) is earth-living (doza-sumai 土座住まい), though it was apparently once floored with an ‘underlay’ of compacted rice husks (momi-gara 籾殻) up to the level of the sill (shikii 敷居) at the front of the oei (around 30cm above the earth floor) and spread with bulrush (gama 蒲, Typha latifolia) mats (mushiro 莚).

The battens of the sub-roof are irregular, split members, tied to the rafters with nothing more than wisteria vines (fuji-zuru 藤蔓); the partitions above uchi-nori (内法) height (lintel height) consist of chiwa-mushiro (茅莚), kunai grass (chiwa or chigaya 茅, Imperata cylindrica) mats (mushiro 莚) tied to the horizontal penetrating ties (yoko-nuki 横貫); the windows in the rear wall are all ‘cutout’ windows (kiri-mado 切窓), i.e. windows formed by simply cutting out vertical strips from the wall boards to form dinner tray-shaped (tanzara-gata 短皿型) openings. All of these elements bestow on this minka an atmosphere of great age, and give us a glimpse into the lives lived by provincial farmers in the early modern period.

Floor plan of the former Nokubi residence, Gifu Prefecture.  A wrapped-hiroma type layout (tori-maki hiroma gata 取巻き広間型) similar to the Noguchi house (Noguchi-ke 野口家) presented last week, but this ita-ya (板屋, lit. ‘board (clad) house’) is somewhat larger, and the greater portion of the interior is doza-sumai (土座住まい).  The earth-floored utility area consists of: the niwa (にわ) with firepit (irori, marked ro 炉), lever thresher (kara-usu からうす) and storage area for unhulled rice (momi-iri 籾入), for food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), food preparation (shokuryо̄ chо̄sei 食糧調整), farm work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事); the stable (maya まや) for raising livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育) and composting (taihizо̄sei 堆肥造成); the komabeya (こまべや, possibly lit. ‘foal room’), for animal birth/husbandry (chikusan 畜産); the mayadoshi (まやどし) with hanging mats (tsuri-mushiro 吊り莚) and a , for feed preparation (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整) and storage of farm tools (nо̄gu okiba 農具置場).  The habitable part of the dwelling consists of: the earth-sitting (doza 土座) hiroma-equivalent oei (おえい) with Shintо̄ shrine (marked torii ⛩) for religious activities (shinkо̄ 信仰), ‘cupboard’ (todana とだな), partitions (majikiri 間仕切り) whose upper part (jо̄bu 上部) is of woven reed (ami-komo or henko 編菰), and separate utility area for ‘straw work’ (wara-shigoto 藁仕事, presumably making straw ropes, sandals, coats and the like), for family time (danran 団らん), courting (kо̄sai 交際), and handwork (teshigoto 手仕事); the board-floored, (ita-yuka 板床) bulrush-mat (gama-mushiro 蒲莚) spread, formal dei (でい) with Buddhist alcove (butsuma ぶつま) and Buddhist altar (butsudan 仏壇, marked 卍), for religious activities and ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事) and receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客); the rear bedrooms (oku おく) with ‘cutout windows’ (kiri-mado 切窓), for sleeping (shūshin 就寝) and storage (shūnо̄ 収納); and the tatami (たたみ) floored ‘dining room’ (daidoko だいどこ) for dining (shokuji 食事).  Also labelled are the interior/exterior urinal (shouben-jou 小便場)and ‘water house’ (mizu-ya みずや), with pipe-fed sink, for cooking (suiji 炊事).

Exterior view of the Nokubi house, with storm shutters closed.

View of the Nokubi house from the rear, showing shallow-pitched, bark-thatched or shingled roofs, secured against strong winds by ‘overbattens’ and large stones.

View of the rear of the Nokubi house, showing the cut-out windows.

Interior view of the Nokubi house looking from the ‘living room (oei) towards the ‘cupboard’ (todana) and the bedrooms (oku) beyond.  The entrance to the formal room (dei) and its Buddhist alcove (butsuma) are visible to the far right.  The oei is seen here with an earth floor, but apparently once had a compacted-straw and mat floor that brought the floor level up to the level of the sill at the front of the oei (‘behind’ the camera in this image).

JAPANESE MINKA LI - PLANNING 29: HIROMA TYPE LAYOUTS 3

The plan below, of the Kurishita family (Kurishita-ke 栗下家) house in the Chūbu Sangaku Southern Alps (中部山岳南アルプス (Chūbu Sangaku Minami-Arupusu) region, Shizuoka Prefecture (静岡県 Shizuoka-ken), is a prototypical example of the ‘wrapped-hiroma type’ (tori-maki hiroma-gata 取巻き広間型) layout discussed in the last two posts. As a mountain village minka, it has a small earth-floored utility area (doma どま), probably because of constraints on the amount of land available, both to build on and to farm (the size of the doma being commensurate with the amount of land under cultivation).

Plan of the Kurishita house in Shizuoka Prefecture.  An example of a wrapped-hiroma type (tori-maki hiroma gata 取巻き広間型) layout, where a formal kagi-zashiki (here kami-zashiki かみざしき, lit ‘upper zashiki’) and zashiki (ざしき) have been added to the front-zashiki type (mae-zashiki kata 前座敷型) three-room layout (san-madori 三間取り) core, consisting of the main habitable room (the ima いま), bedroom (nando なんど), and storeroom (kura くら).  Notable is the unusual ‘wraparound’ or ‘returning’ earth-floored utility area (doma) with storage room (miso みそ).  The doma contains the bath (nyūyoku 入浴) and is for cooking (suiji 炊事) and farm work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業); the ima contains a cupboard (todana 戸棚) and a firepit (irori, marked ro 炉), and is for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), cooking (chо̄ri 調理), entertaining (о̄tai 応対), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事); the zashiki also contains a firepit and is for (religious) ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), and sleeping (shūshin 就寝); the kami-zashiki is for religious activities (shinkо̄ 信仰), ceremonies, receiving guests, and sleeping; the nando is for sleeping and storage (shūnо̄ 収納); the kura is for grain storage (kokurui 穀類); and the miso is for food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵).

Exterior (rear) view of the Kurishita house in Shizuoka Prefecture, in the mountains of the Southern Alps (Minami Arupusu 南アルプス).  The kitchen/bath lean-to is on the right, against the gable wall.  The low, shallow-pitched and seemingly bark-thatched roof gives the dwelling an ancient appearance.

The next plan, the Noguchi family (Noguchi-ke 野口家) residence in the Shо̄kawa (荘川) region of Gifu Prefecture (岐阜県 Gifu-ken), is another basic example of a complete wrapped-hiroma layout. The central hiroma, here called the orima (おりま), is itself centred around the firepit (irori); to the rear of the hiroma are two small bedrooms, called chо̄da (ちょうだ), and to its ‘upper’ (kami-te 上み手) side there is a kagi-zashiki (かぎざしき), called here the oku-no-de (おくので), for receiving guests. ‘Down’ (shimo-te 下も手) from the hiroma are arrayed the rear-located ‘dining-kitchen’ (daidoko だいどこ), stable (maya まや), ‘small stable’ (ko-maya こまや), and, in the perimeter geya (下屋) or ‘under eave’ space, the entry shita-en (したえん or 下縁), lit. ‘low en’). There are (or were) still a handful of earth-floor living (doza-sumai 土座住まい) thatch-roofed (kure-buki 榑葺き) board-walled dwellings (ita-ya 板屋) on the outskirts of Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture, with similar layouts.

Plan of the Noguchi house in Gifu Prefecture.  A wrapped-hiroma type (tori-maki hiroma gata 取巻き広間型) layout, with a central gathering room (hiroma, here called orima おりま) around which each of the other rooms are wrapped.  The earth-floored utility area consists of the shita-en (したえん) with entry (iri-guchi 入口) and area for snow removal (yuki-harai 雪払い), the stable (maya まや) for raising livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育) and composting (taihizо̄sei 堆肥造成), and the ‘small stable’ (ko-maya こまや) for feed preparation (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整).  The rooms are the orima (おりま) with firepit (irori, marked ro 炉) and cupboard (todana とだな), for family time (danran 団らん), courting (kо̄sai 交際), ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事); the kitchen-dining room (daidoko だいどこ) with firepit and cupboard (todana 戸棚), for dining (shokuji 食事), family time, and meal preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整); the bedrooms (chо̄da ちょうだ) for sleeping (shūshin 就寝) and storage (shūnо̄ 収納); the rear zashiki or formal room (okunode おくので) with very large Buddhist alcove (butsuma 仏間, marked manji 卍), for ceremonies and receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客); the front zashiki (de で) with low heated table (kotatsu コタツ), for ceremonies, receiving guests, and sleeping; and another bedroom (heya へや), seemingly a later addition.  There is also a board-floored lean-to area for cooking (suiji 炊事) with bath (nyūyoku 入浴), sink (nagashi ながし), and pantry for food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵).  The verandah (en 縁) is used to receive visitors.

Exterior view of the in Noguchi house in Gifu Prefecture. The ‘cookhouse’ and surrounds (suiji-ba mawari 炊事場回り) with its lean-to roof (sa-kake yane 差掛け屋根) is a later addition.

JAPANESE MINKA L - PLANNING 28: HIROMA TYPE LAYOUTS 2

In this post we continue with our examination of the evolution of wrapped-hiroma type (tori-maki hiroma-gata 取巻き広間型) layouts.

The plan below is an example of a two-room layout (ni-madori 二間取り) from a mountain village in Kishū (紀州), Wakayama Prefecture. There are no moveable partitions (tategu 建具) and other than the minimal exceptions of the board wall (ita-kabe 板壁) and built-in shelving (todana 戸棚) on the ‘living room’ (hiroma 広間) side of the bedroom (nema 寝間), the whole interior is left open. Interestingly, there are elements of the plan that bring to mind the layout and partitioning of the Izumo Grand Shrine (Izumo Taisha 出雲大社) in Shimane Prefecture.

The Kobayakawa family (Kobayakawa-ke 小早川家) house in Kishū (紀州), Wakayama Prefecture. 　A one-room dwelling (hito-ma sumai ひと間住まい) with a bedroom (nando なんど) eked out from one corner of the single room.  Labelled are the utility area (niwa にわ) for agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業) and cooking (tabemono chо̄ri 食物調理); the board-floored (ita-yuka 板床) omote (おもて), whose front section fulfills the formal functions of the zashiki, for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), sleeping (shūshin 就寝), and whose rear section corresponds to a daidoko or katte ‘dining room', for dining (shokuji 食事), with firepit (irori, here ro 炉) and low bench (dai 台); and the bedroom (nando なんど) for sleeping and storage (shūnо̄ 収納).  The ‘verandah' (en) is used for entertaining guests (о̄tai 応対) and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事).

Plan diagram of Izumo Grand Shrine (出雲大社)

Interior view of the Kobayakawa house, looking from the omote towards the dining area with firepit (irori), and the storage area (shūnо̄) and bedroom (nando) beyond.  The only interior partition is the single board-clad (hame-ita 羽目板) partition between the omote and the nando, seen here on the left; to its left is the small closet/shelves alcove.

The next plan below, of the Okabe family (Okabe-ke 岡部家) house in the Okutama district (Okutama chihо̄ 奥多摩地方) of Tokyo Prefecture, is a layout often seen in the Kantо̄ region (broadly eastern Japan). If we imagine the plan without the zashiki extension (comprised of the oku おくand tobanoma とばのま), then only the husband and wife’s bedroom (the heya へや) is properly ‘walled off’. All the other room divisions are fitted with tategu, but they are normally left open; there is nothing at all in the way of fixed walls.

The Okabe house in Tokyo Prefecture.  Even in such a large dwelling, if the kagi-zashiki (here the oku おく) and tobanoma とばのま) part is regarded as a later addition and the layout is considered without them, a form corresponding to (1) in the plan diagrams below is revealed, with only the bedroom (heya へや) separated off from a multi-purpose room comprised of the uchiza (うちざ) and zashiki (ざしき).  Note also the massive central post.  The partitions dividing off the other rooms are of various types, and still not clearly established.  Labelled are: the earth-floored utility area (daidokoro だいどころ) with utility entrance (katte-guchi かって口), for farm work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業); the ito-hikiba (糸ひきば, lit. ‘thread pulling place') for secondary work (fukugyо̄ 副業), presumably including spinning; the board-floored kitchen area for cooking (suiji 炊事) with food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), sink (nagashi ナガシ) and water (mizu 水); the dining-family room (katte かって) with fire pit (irori, marked ro 炉), for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), entertaining guests (о̄tai 応対), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事); the zashiki (ざしき) for courting (kousai 交際)

Interior view of the О̄kubo family (О̄kubo-ke 大久保家) house in the Tama region (Tama chihо̄ 多摩地方) of Tokyo Prefecture.  In everyday life the partitions are not used, and all the boundaries between rooms are left open; only the bedroom is enclosed.  The layout of this house is very similar to that of the Okabe house, and the view here corresponds to that looking from the katte towards the zashiki in the Okabe house.  Note again the massive central post.

Both of the above layouts are at an intermediate stage of development, on the way to transitioning into the full wrapped-hiroma type layout. They correspond to plan (1) of the plan diagrams presented in last week’s post and included again below, where a corner of the hiroma has been separated off as a bedroom.

The two layouts shown above correspond to the plan diagram (1) here, a transitional stage on the path to developing into full wrapped-hiroma layouts.

JAPANESE MINKA XLIX - PLANNING 27: HIROMA TYPE LAYOUTS 1

Previous posts in this series on minka layouts have been organised into sub-sections based on the number of rooms in the dwelling, progressing from single-space and one-room minka to two-room, three-room and four-room layouts. In this final subsection of the series, the focus will not be on the number of rooms but on one particular arrangement of them: the hiroma-type (hiroma-gata 広間型) layout, which has made many appearances in previous posts, but here I would like to examine it in some of its more elaborated forms.

The most prototypical expression of the hiroma-type layout is probably its three-room (san-madori 三間取り) variant, in which the hiroma, broadly definable as the ‘general habitable room’ of the minka, runs the full width of the dwelling, and is in the ‘lower’ position, adjacent to and fully bounding the doma; the other two rooms are ‘up’ from the hiroma and separated by it from the doma.

A typical three-room hiroma-type layout, with full-width multi-purpose habitable room (hiroma ひろま) in the ‘lower' position, and fully bounding the earth-floored utility area (here daidokoro だいどころ), ‘upper' front formal room (here oku おく), and upper rear bedroom (heya へや).  The dot-dash line indicates the likely location of the partition line should the dwelling be converted into a four-room layout.

In all hiroma-gata layouts, the life of the dwelling is centred around the multi-purpose hiroma, whose main uses are generally dining and family gathering; the other rooms, be they the ‘formal room’ (zashiki 座敷), bedroom (nema 寝間), rooms for cooking (suiji 炊事) or work (sagyou 作業), all ‘serve’ the hiroma to some degree or other, but multi-room layouts where the rooms are arranged so that they ‘wrap around’ the greater part of the perimeter of the hiroma are known as tori-maki hiroma-gata (取り巻き広間型, lit. ‘wrapped hiroma type’ or ‘surrounded hiroma type’) layouts, to distinguish them from simpler three-room or four-room hiroma-type layouts. The wrapped hiroma type is common from the mountainous areas of the cold-climate Chūbu region (Chūbu chihо̄ 中部地方) to north-eastern Japan (Tо̄hoku Nihon 東北日本), probably because it has benefits for the purpose of warming the dwelling: heat from a large firepit (irori) in the central hiroma can radiate or convect more easily to the surrounding rooms.

The development path of the wrapped hiroma type can be seen in the plan diagrams below. First, in plan 1, a corner of the hiroma (ひろま) in a one-room dwelling is separated off as a bedroom (ne 寝). If the transverse partition (the partition parallel to the room-doma boundary) of this bedroom is then extended to the front wall of the dwelling, the result is a three-room hiroma-gata layout (2, lower plan); if the longitudinal partition (the partition perpendicular to the room-doma boundary) of the bedroom is extended to the edge of the doma, the result is a three-room front-zashiki (mae-zashiki 前座敷) layout (2, upper plan). Note that, interestingly, the ‘wrapped hiroma-type’ (plan 3) develops not from the three-room hiroma-type layout, but from the three-room front-zashiki layout. The use of zashiki (the ‘formal room’) in the name ‘front-zashiki’ can be somewhat deceptive, because in a three-room dwelling with this layout, the front room, regardless of name, functions primarily as the everyday ‘living room’ (hiroma); it can be commandeered as a space for receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), but extending its functionally to include religious rituals (gishiki 儀式) and ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事) is impractical. To fulfil these roles, an extension containing dedicated zashiki is added ‘upwards’ (上手 kamite) of the hiroma, resulting in the prototypical form of the wrapped hiroma layout (plan 3), with five rooms.

Plan diagrams illustrating the development of the one-room layout (1) into either a three-room hiroma-type layout (2, lower plan) or a three-room front-zashiki type layout (2, upper plan), and from there into a four or five-room wrapped hiroma type layout (3).  Labelled are the earth-floored utility area (doma どま), the ‘living room' (hiroma ひろま), bedroom (nema, here ne 寝), formal room (zashiki, here za 座), and kagi-zashiki (鍵座敷).

Characteristic of the tori-maki hiroma-gata is that there are two or three small rooms to the rear of the hiroma, and that the zashiki upwards of the hiroma is a kagi-zashiki, meaning a zashiki occupying the upper rear quadrant of the habitable portion of the dwelling, making the layout ‘kagi-zashiki style’ (kagi-zashiki keishiki 鍵座敷形式). In the Tо̄hoku (東北) region, this style is the mother layout of the many chūmon zukuri (中門造り) and magari-ya (曲り屋) L-plan minka found in that area.

Real-world examples of the plan diagrams 1 and 2.  On the left (1), a reconstruction of the original plan of a very old minka in Sakata (阪田), Hyо̄go Prefecture (Hyо̄go-ken 兵庫県), showing earth-floored utility area (doma どま), board-floored (ita-yuka 板床) general habitable room (hiroma, here called hiroshiki ひろしき), and bedroom (nando なんど).  On the right (2), a farmhouse (nо̄ka 農家) in Arasawa village (Arasawa-mura 荒沢村), Iwate Prefecture (Iwate-ken 岩手県), showing earth-floored utility area (niwa にわ), large stable (maya まや), board-floored general habitable room (jо̄i じょうい) which also functions as the formal room (zashiki) and contains a firepit (hibito ひびと), Buddhist altar (butsudan, marked manji 卍) and shrine (kami-dana 神棚), walk-in closet (mono-oki ものおき), and bedroom (nebiya ねびや).

A real-world example of plan diagram 3, a wrapped hiroma L-plan (magari-ya 曲り屋) minka in Iwate Prefecture.  Labelled are the central hiroma, here called the chanoma (ちゃのま), the ‘lower zashiki' (shita-zashiki したざしき), the ‘upper zashiki' (kami-zashiki かみざしき) with decorative alcove (toko とこ), the bedrooms (nando なんど and heya へや), the utility area (niwa にわ), and the kitchen (daidoko だいどこ) with firepit.  The magari-ya (the front leg of the L) is partly omitted.

Interior view of the hiroma (here called the omē (おめえ) of a minka with a wrapped hiroma type layout in Yamagata Prefecture.  The hiroma has a central firepit (irori 囲炉裏) and is in turn the centre of the dwelling, with the zashiki and bedrooms wrapped around it.

JAPANESE MINKA XLVIII - PLANNING 26: FOUR-ROOM DWELLINGS 7

In a previous post in this series on four-room layout (yon-madori 四間取り) minka, we discussed the two types of staggered layout: the perpendicular stagger type (yoko-kui-chigai kata 横食違い型) and parallel stagger type (tate-kui-chigai kata 縦食違い型). Here we will wrap up this series on four-room minka by comparing two final examples, one of each type of staggered layout.

The mode of habitation differs between these different layouts. Certain layouts are generally more common in snow country and in mountain villages: kagi-zashiki (鍵座敷, lit. ‘key zashiki’, meaning a zashiki located at the upper rear corner of the dwelling) layouts; layouts where the ‘kitchen-dining room’, often called the katte (勝手), is large in comparison to the ‘living room’, often called the dei (でい); and layouts where the rear of the earth-floored utility area (doma 土間 or niwa にわ) is divided off, board-floored, and equipped with a firepit (irori 囲炉裏) to become a large katte.

The two plans shown below are both staggered four-room layouts. The first, the Komaki family (Komaki-ke 小牧家) residence in Ibo County (Ibo-gun 揖保郡), Hyо̄go Prefecture, is a yoko-kui-chigai (横食違い) or ‘perpendicular stagger type’; the other, the Kobayashi family (Kobayashi-ke 小林家) residence in Kita-kuwada County (Kita-kuwada-gun 北桑田郡), Kyо̄to Prefecture, is a tate-kui-chigai (竪食違い) or ‘parallel stagger type’.

Besides the mode of stagger, there are other points of difference: the Komaki house has a more ‘modern’ open bedroom (nando なんど), meaning that the nando partitions consist entirely of operable sliding fittings, so the room can be fully opened up to the rest of the interior and used for other purposes, which necessitates a closet (oshi-ire 押入) for hiding bedding and clothes away during the day. This style is common among lowland minka on the plains regions (heiya-bu 平野部) of Japan.

In contrast, the Kobayashi house has a closed nando, with fixed walls and only a single sliding entry door; this is more characteristic of older minka and minka in the mountainous areas (sankan-bu 山間部) of the country.

Recall that layouts in which the decorative alcove (tokonoma 床の間) is on the end wall, i.e. the ‘gable wall side’ (tsuma-gawa 妻側), are called tsuma-toko keishiki (妻床形式), and those where it is on the long wall side (hira-gawa 平側) are called hira-toko keishiki (平床形式), lit. ‘long alcove style’. Both the Komaki house and Kobayashi house are tsuma-toko layouts; in the Komaki house both gable-end walls are blind (without openings), which is characteristic of minka from this area, whereas the Kobayashi house has one blind gable-end wall, and the other end contains a utility entrance and a window.

In both houses, the daidoko (だいどこ), the everyday gathering place of the family, is the room that has gained area from the stagger to become the largest room, and so has direct access to all three other rooms. This is not always the case: there are also staggered layouts in which the daidoko loses area from the stagger to the ‘front room’ (omote-no-ma おもてのま), or even to the nando.

The Komaki house in Ibo County (Ibo-gun 揖保郡), Hyо̄go Prefecture.  A perpendicular stagger type (yoko-kui-chigai kata 横食違い型), facade zashiki type (omote-zashiki gata 表座敷型), ‘gable alcove style' (tsuma-toko keishiki 妻床形式) four-room layout, with an ‘open' bedroom (nando, here called oku おく).  The earth-floored utility area (niwa にわ) is highly developed, also displaying a four-part division: the niwa proper with entry area (iriguchi doma 入口土間) and long, deep ‘step' for greeting/receiving visitors (о̄tai 応対), for agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業); the stable (umaya うまや) for raising livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育) and composting (taihizо̄sei 堆肥造成); the ‘inner niwa' (uchi-niwaうちにわ) with rear entrance, stove, sink (nagashi ナガシ) and water (mizu 水), for food preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整); and the ‘rear niwa' (oku-niwa おくにわ) for food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵) and food preparation.  The four rooms are the dining-family room (daidoko だいどこ), unpartitioned from the uchi-niwa, with ‘tea service' (mizuya ミズヤ), for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事); the open bedroom (oku おく) for storage of family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財格納), and husband and wife sleeping (fūfushūshin夫婦就寝), with closet (oshi-ire 押入); the formal zashiki (ざしき) for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事) and receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), with decorative alcove (toko とこ) and Buddhist alcove (butsuma 仏間, marked 卍); and the omote (おもて), somewhat between the daidoko and the zashiki in its level of formality, for receiving visitors (о̄tai 応対) both from the niwa and from the verandah (engawa).

The Kobayashi house in Kita-kuwada County (Kita-kuwada-gun 北桑田郡), Kyо̄to Prefecture.  A parallel stagger type (tate-kui-chigai kata (縦食違い型), front/facade zashiki type (omote-zashiki gata 表座敷型), ‘gable alcove style' (tsuma-toko keishiki 妻床形式) four-room layout.  The narrow niwa (にわ) has entry area (iriguchi doma 入口土間), mortar (kara-usu カラウス), stove (kudo くど), sink (hashiri ハシリ), and water (mizu 水), and is for storage (chozо̄ 貯蔵), food preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整), feed preparation (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整), and agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業).  The four rooms are the dining-family room (daidoko だいどこ), unpartitioned from the niwa, with shelves (tana 棚) and firepit (irori, marked ro 炉), for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), and entertaining guests (о̄tai 応対); the ‘lower room' (shimo-no-ma しものま) which is for receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客) and also functions as a ‘break-out room' for religious (shinkо̄ 信仰) ceremonies or other events (gyо̄ji 行事) held in the formal ‘upper room' (kami-no-ma かみのま); the kami-no-ma contains a decorative alcove (toko とこ) and Buddhist alcove (butsuma 仏間, marked 卍) in the gable wall and is also used for sleeping (shūshin就寝); and the closed bedroom (nando なんど) for storage of family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財格納) and husband and wife sleeping (fūfushūshin夫婦就寝), without a closet (oshi-ire 押入).  The verandah (engawa) is for receiving visitors (о̄tai 応対) and handwork, and contains a storage closet.

Exterior view of an old thatched minka in a mountainous area of Tanba-guchi (丹波口), Kyо̄to Prefecture.  Like the Kobayashi house, it has a staggered four-room interior layout with a ‘quarantined' nando.

The contrast in ‘atmosphere’ between these two interior layouts, in particular that between the two styles of nando, seems to reflect the contrast between their respective environments: the close, dark mountain forest versus the open, airy plain.

JAPANESE MINKA XLVII - PLANNING 25: FOUR-ROOM DWELLINGS 6

Another four-room minka layout this week: the Ishibe family (Ishibe-ke 石部家) residence in Yamagata Prefecture. Of its four rooms, three are used as zashiki (ざしき); the idoko (いどこ), in contrast, is the multi-purpose room for family activities. The Ishibe house is a regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori 整形四間取り), though the idoko and lower front zashiki together have significant use characteristics of a single hiroma, suggestive of a three-room hiroma-type (hiroma-gata 広間型) layout. Further, the layout is in kagi-zashiki style (kagi-zashiki keishiki 鍵座敷形式), with upper rear kagi-zashiki (鍵座敷, lit. ‘key zashiki’), here called the oku-zashiki (おくざしき, lit. ‘rear zashiki’). Kagi-zashiki in this type of L-plan are often seen in regular six-room (seikei roku-madori 整形六間取り) layouts.

This house is a han-nо̄ shо̄ka (半濃商家, lit. ‘half farming commerce house’, presumably meaning that it was the residence of part-time farmer who was also engaged in commerce) in the hot spring resort town of Shimobe (Shimobe Onsen下部温泉) in Yamagata Prefecture, but the layout seems to indicate that it also served as an inn for paying travellers when the need arose. The three zashiki are connected by a returning or wrap-around ‘verandah’ (mawari-en 回り縁), and there is a shoin (書院) in the oku-zashiki.

The shoin is one of the design elements of better-appointed zashiki. It flanks the decorative alcove (tokonoma 床の間 or toko とこ), and in its most typical form consists of a low ‘sill’ or bench (shoin kо̄-ita 書院甲板) below a lattice window (shoin koushi 書院格子) that functions to bring more natural light to the toko, which is often at the rear of the zashiki and so away from the main exterior opening and source of light. As the characters 書院 (lit. ‘book institution’) suggest, the shoin began as a kind of desk or ‘study’ in the classical and medieval villas of nobles and samurai; shoin were so closely associated with this ‘high’ style of residential architecture that the style itself came to be known as shoin-zukuri (書院造り, lit. ‘shoin construction’). As the Ishibe house shows, the shoin eventually ‘trickled down’ into the minka of relatively well-to-do Edo period farmers and merchants.

A shoin that projects out from the plane of its wall into the verandah (engawa 縁側) or corridor (rо̄ka 廊下) is known as a tsuke-shoin (付書院, lit. ‘attached shoin’), de-shoin (出書院, lit. ‘projecting shoin’), or akari-shoin (明かり書院, lit. ‘lantern shoin’); one that is in the same plane as its wall, and thus lacks a shoin kо̄-ita, is called a hira-shoin (平書院, lit. ‘flat shoin’). Typically, the former are found in more formal zashiki, and the latter in less formal zashiki. In this case, the shoin is of the projecting type, and is called akadoko (あかどこ), a dialectical variant of akari-doko (明り床), meaning the same as akari-shoin.

The Ishibe house, Yamagata Prefecture.  A regular four-room layout (seikei yon-madori 整形四間取り) L-plan dwelling.  The projecting kitchen (katte かって), though partly board (ita 板) floored , is considered an extension of the earth-floored utility area (here daidoko だいどこ), and so is not counted as a room.  It contains the stove, sink (nagashi ナガシ), and water (mizu 水), and is for meal preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整) and food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵).  The daidoko is for food preparation (shokuryо̄ chо̄sei 食糧調整), agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業), and preparation of feed (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整), in this case mulberry leaves for sericulture (yо̄san 養蚕).  It contains the entry (iriguchi 入口) and stairs to the roof space (yane-ura 屋根裏), also used for sericulture.  The two front zashiki are collectively named mae-no-zashiki (まえのざしき).  The lower front zashiki is used as a living room (ima 居間) and for courting (kо̄sai 交際), and its verandah is used for entertaining (о̄tai 応対) and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事).  The upper front zashiki and rear kagi-zashiki (here called the oku-zashiki おくざしき) are both used for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), and sleeping (shūshin 就寝).  The kagi-zashiki is well-appointed, with closet (oshi-ire 押入), decorative alcove (toko とこ), and flanking tsuke-shoin, here called aka-doko (アカドコ).  The idoko (いどこ), partly board-floored, is for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), and handwork, and contains shelves (todana ト゚ダナ) and two firepits (irori), here called hijiro (ヒジロ).  There is also a walk-in closet for storage (shūnо̄ 収納) called the nando (なんど).

A tsuke-shoin flanking the tokonoma in a modern residence.  Here the nose of the kо̄-ita (甲板) is flush with the wall plane.

A deep tsuke-shoin that projects the full width of a tatami mat (around 91cm).  The sill (kо̄-ita 甲板) is set back around half this width from the plane of the wall, and, in a kind of recursive move, the shoin itself has been given a flanking window.

A projecting shoin (tsuke-shoin) seen from the corridor (rouka) side.

JAPANESE MINKA XLVI - PLANNING 24: FOUR-ROOM DWELLINGS 5

More four-room minka layouts…

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

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

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

The Kiyomiya house.  Labelled: the earth-floored utility area (dēdoko でえどこ) with entry doma (iriguchi doma 入口土間) and stove (kamado カマド), for food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), food preparation (shokuryо̄ chо̄sei 食糧調整), agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事); timber lattice windows (kо̄shi mado 格子窓) between the dēdoko and hiroma; the living-dining-kitchen hiroma (ひろま) with threshold (agari-kamachi 上り框), shallow decorative alcove (oshi-ita 押板), firepit (irori, marked ro 炉), for spillover of ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), meal preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整), handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), and weaving (hata-ori 機織); the formal but spartan dē (でえ) for ceremonies, sleeping (shūshin 就寝), and entertaining (о̄tai 応対) at its entrance; the ‘master bedroom' (heya へや) for storage of family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財収納) and husband and wife sleeping (fūfu shūshin 夫婦就寝); and the second bedroom (urabeya うらべや), for storage of family possessions and sleeping.  The external opening to the hiroma is a ‘lion window' (shishi mado 獅子窓), with a sill at around waist height and a thick, fixed lattice.

Interior view of the Kiyomiya house showing the shallow decorative alcove (oshi-ita 押板) in the hiroma.

Exterior view of the southern facade of the Kiyomiya house.

Interior view of the dēdoko of the Kiyomiya house, looking north.  The lattice windows (kо̄shi mado) to the hiroma are partly visible on the left, and to the north of them is the fixed timber board wall dividing the dēdoko from the urabeya.

Interior view of the board-floored hiroma of the Kiyomiya house, looking east towards the dē.

View of the hiroma showing the roof structure above.

Interior view of the Kiyomiya house, taken from outside the looking north across the tatami-floored dē.  The heya is beyond the north wall.

JAPANESE MINKA XLV - PLANNING 23: FOUR-ROOM DWELLINGS 4

This week’s post, something of a ‘part two’ to last week’s, presents more examples of four-room minka layouts.

The plan below, of the Ogura house (Ogura-ke 小椋家) in Shiga Prefecture, is another four-room layout in tsuma-toko (妻床) or ‘gable-end alcove’ style; in terms of the degree of openness of its bedroom (here heya へや), it might be considered an intermediate form somewhere between the Yamamoto house and the Nakashima house, both examined last week.  The partitioning between the living-dining room (kamado かまど) and the heya is a motley collection, consisting of: a 1/2 ken (91cm) wide lath-and-plaster sode-kabe (袖壁, lit. ‘sleeve wall’) attached to and perpendicular to the exterior wall, and a three-track sill (shikii 敷居) and lintel (kamoi 鴨居) to receive two (fixed) itado and one sliding papered lattice panel (shouji 障子).  This seemingly hybrid, semi-open, semi-closed arrangement carries a faint reminder of the heya’s role as a storage room, and together with the shallowness of the tsuma-doko, and the low eave height, indicate that this is an old minka.  Part of the ‘cooking doma’ (suiji-doma 炊事土間), here called the uchi-niwa (うちにわ), is board-floored, which is customary of minka in mountain country.

The Ogura house.  Labelled are: the niwa (にわ) with bath (nyū-yoku 入浴), entry doma (iriguchi doma 入口土間), and ‘dog stop’ (inu-dome 犬止め, presumably waist-height partitions), for farm work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業); the inner niwa (uchi-niwa うちにわ), with stove, in-built closets for storage (chozо̄ 貯蔵) and fuel (nenryо̄ 燃料), and board-floored area with sink (nagashi ナガシ) and water (mizu 水), for food preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整); the dining-living room (kamado かまど) with firepit (irori, marked ro 炉) and shelves (todana 戸棚), for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), and handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事); the bedroom (heya へや) for sleeping (shūshin 就寝) and storage of family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財収納); the zashiki (here oku おく), with gable-end shelves (tana たな) and decorative alcove (toko とこ), for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), and sleeping (shūshin 就寝); and the ‘second room’, here dei (でい), used as a ‘spillover’ room for ceremonies, and for entertaining (о̄tai 応対) and courting (kо̄sai 交際).

The plan below, of the Morozumi house (Morozumi-ke 面角家) in Serigasawa (芹々沢), Nagano Prefecture, is a four-room layout in which the vestiges of the hiroma-gata (広間型) layout can still be seen to a degree.  The presence of a rear or ‘inner’ zashiki (iri-no-zashiki いりのざしき) in addition to the front or facade-side zashiki (mae-de-no-zashiki まえでのざしき) indicates this as a kagi-zashiki style (kagi-zashiki-gata 鍵座敷型) layout; it is in addition in the ‘gable-end alcove’ style (tsuma-doko keishiki 妻床形式), meaning that the decorative alcoves (toko とこ), storage (mono-ire or mono-iri 物入), and Buddhist alcove (butsuma 仏間, marked manji 卍) are located in the gable walls of the zashiki.  A ‘storeroom’ (nando), used as a bedroom and here called the ‘small zashiki’ (ko-zashiki こざしき), has been taken out of the rear of the multi-function hiroma, here called the ima (いま).  Likewise the stable (maya まや) is at the rear of the doma in what is known as oku-umaya keishiki (奥厩形式, lit. ‘rear stable type’).  There are many minka with this type of layout in the Shinshu (信州) region, and this four-room layout more generally is commonly seen in north-eastern Japan.

The Morozumi house in Serigasawa, Nagano Prefecture.  It is a four-room minka in the kagi-zashiki (鍵座敷, lit. ‘key zashiki’) style, with two ‘upper' (kami-te or uwami-te 上み手) zashiki running the full width of the gable-end wall, which is blind and completely taken up with joinery.  In this region the stable (maya まや) occupies the rear of the doma; it is seemingly prioritised over the bedroom (ko-zashiki こざしき), which loses area to it.  Labelled: the earth-floored utility area (usually doma or niwa but here called, somewhat unusually, the daidokoro だいどころ) with entry doma (iriguchi doma 入口土間), for agricultural work (nо̄-sagyо̄ 濃作業), farm implement storage (nо̄gu okiba 農具置場), food storage (shokuryо̄ chozо̄ 食糧貯蔵), and feed preparation (shiryо̄ chо̄sei 飼料調整) for silkworm breeding (kaiko-san 蚕産) and sericulture (yо̄san 養蚕); the rear stable (maya まや) for raising livestock (kachiku shi-iku 家畜飼育) and composting (taihi zо̄sei 堆肥造成); the bedroom (ko-zashiki こざしき) for sleeping (shūshin 就寝), sericultre, and storage of family possessions (kazai shūnо̄ 家財格納); the inner zashiki (iri-no-zashiki いりのざしき) with gable-end decorative alcove (toko とこ) and closet (mono-ire 物入), low heated table (kotatsu コタツ), and for ceremonies (gyо̄ji 行事), receiving guests (sekkyaku 接客), sleeping, and sericulture; the front or facade-side zashiki (mae-de-no-zashiki まえでのざしき), with decorative alcove (toko とこ), shelves (tana たな), Buddhist alcove (butsuma, marked manji 卍), and kotatsu, for ceremonies, receiving guests, sleeping, and sericulture; and the general-purpose living room (ima いま), partly board (ita 板) floored and partly tatami (tatami タタミ) floored, with sitting sink (suwari-nagashi 坐りナガシ), firepit (irori, marked ro 炉) and kotatsu, for dining (shokuji 食事), family time (danran 団らん), meal preparation (tabemono chо̄sei 食物調整), handwork (te-shigoto 手仕事), sericultre, and night-time entertaining (yorunabe о̄tai 夜なべ応対). Externally, there is a place for agricultural storage (shūnо̄ 収農) at the entrance, and entertaining (о̄tai 応対) and sericulture take place on the ‘verandah’ (en 縁). As can be seen, every part of the dwelling is used for some aspect of silk production, indicating the economic importance that this activity once had in the region.

Exterior view of an old thatched-roof (kari-ya 茅屋) minka in Serigasawa, Nagano Prefecture, with a very similar interior layout to the Morozumi house.  The master of the house is just visible standing in the doorway, his head grazing the low eaves.

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).