JAPANESE MINKA L - PLANNING 28: HIROMA TYPE LAYOUTS 2

October 25, 2024

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

October 18, 2024

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 (Hyо̄*go-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

October 11, 2024

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

October 4, 2024

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.