Machiya

Machiya are traditional wooden townhouses found throughout Japan and typified in the historical capital of Kyoto. "Machiya" (townhouses) and "nōka" (farm dwellings) constitute the two categories of Japanese vernacular architecture known as "minka" (folk dwellings). Machiya originated as early as the Heian period and continued to develop through to the Edo period and even into the Meiji period. Machiya housed urban merchants and craftsmen, a class collectively referred to as "chōnin" (townspeople). The word "machiya" (町家or町屋) is written using two kanji: "machi" (町) meaning “town”, and "ya" (家or屋) meaning “house” (家) or “shop” (屋) depending on the kanji used to express it; either one is equally acceptable.

Kyoto machiya

The city of Kyoto was originally laid out in a gridlike pattern, modeled after the Chinese Tang dynasty capital Chang'an. The typical Kyoto machiya within that grid was a long wooden home with narrow street frontage, stretching deep into the city block and often containing one or more small courtyard gardens or "tsuboniwa". The front of the building served as the retail or shop space, generally having sliding or folding shutters that opened to facilitate the display of goods and wares. Internally the machiya would be split between the "kyoshitsubu", divided rooms with raised timber floors and tatami mats, and the "doma" or "toriniwa", an unfloored service space that contained the kitchen and also served as the passage to the rear of the plot, where storehouses known as "kura" would be found. The plot width was an index of wealth, and typical machiya plots were only 5.4 to 6 meters wide, but about 20 meters deep, leading to the nickname "unagi no nedoko", or eel's beds.

External links

* [http://www.kyotomachiya.com/index.html Kyoto Machiya Resource]
* [http://www.kansai.gr.jp/culture_e/build/living/machiya1.htm Living in Machiya]
* [http://www.stonebridge.com/ash/Pages/architecture.html Traditional Kyoto architecture]
* [http://www.gyoutai.com/eng/kyoto/sugimoto/info.htm Sugimoto Residence -- A Kyoto Machiya]
* [http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/m/machiya.htm Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System: Machiya]
* [http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/spn/kyoto/walking/02.html JNTO site -- Kyoto Machiya]
* [http://www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?pName=kyoto-machiya&cName=Japanese%20Culture&pID=1072&cID=359 Japan Visitor -- Kyoto Townhouses]