Japanese Architecture

The Beauty of Japanese Architecture in Kansai
The Climate and Characteristics of the Modern Minka in Kansai HAYASHINO Masanori Professor Emeritus, Kyoto Prefectural University

Unique Characteristics of the Form of the Minka in Kansai

The minka or noka farmhouses built in the early years of the Modern Period are mainly structures with semi-gabled roofs (irimoya) thatched with grass, or sometimes with hipped roofs (yosemune). The semi-gabled style is overwhelmingly present in the Kansai region, and outlets for smoke on the right and left sides at the top of the roof give the appearance of a hipped roof. The roof is of a standardized shape, but the structure of the framework that supports it is varied. One finds in the northern areas of the Kansai in particular houses with double and triple thick beams running lengthwise and breadthwise in order to support heavy snows, and the roof is steeply slanted. Examples of this style include the UEDA family residence in northern Shiga Prefecture (built in the latter half of the 17th century), the former YAMASHITA family residence in western Fukui Prefecture (early 19th century; see photo A), and the former URYU family residence in eastern Fukui Prefecture (late 17th century). On the other hand, among the minka in the southern Kinki district, such as those found in the villages of Totsukawa and Kawakami in Nara Prefecture, the design of the houses is long and thin because of the slopes available as sites in the mountainous areas. Also, because many owners were in the forestry industry, dirt floors are rare, roofs are kirizuma-zukuri (gabled) with horse chestnut wood shingles, and the roof is edged all the way around with boards serving as eaves to prevent fog by stopping the rain that falls during the rainy seasons from being siphoned up from below like fog might be. Examples of this type include the TSUJI family residence (built 1725) and the former MARUTA family residence (early 19th century; see photo B). However, the old minka in most areas are normally of the semi-gabled, grass thatched roof-style.

The Significance of the Open Hearth (Irori) in the Minka

The open hearth demonstrates the relationship between temperature and the minka-style house. However, this type of hearth is not limited solely to those areas in Japan with cooler climates. This hearth is built in those rooms related to dining, such as the kitchen and the chanoma, or living room, and in addition to providing warmth, it is a place where food can be cooked from a pot suspended over the fire. While minka with this hearth are found most everywhere throughout the Kansai region, they are not found around the Osaka plains or in the Nara Basin, that is, in the center of what is known as the Kinai district. The style that is found in eastern Shiga Prefecture, as exemplified by the former MIYAJI family residence (1754), displays a flat structure consisting of broad space spread out over three rooms; this style is found throughout the country. Moreover, this broad space, a wide room accompanying the doma, has an earthen floor. Chaff was spread over the floor of the doma and a straw mat placed on top to stay warm in the winter.
The absence of these hearths in minka in the central Kinai district was not just because of warm temperatures, but rather because food was made in the oven called a kamado below the doma. The kamado is placed in a kamaya, which is partitioned off by a beam and a small wall called kemuri-gaeshi, and was thought to not allow smoke to travel upward. Houses belonging to village headman and the like would have numerous kamado, and because the smoke from the kamaya would inevitably rise these houses with the commonly used grass thatched roof accordingly were at risk of fire. In such houses, the upper sections of the kamaya were roofed with tile, and clay walls were raised up around the thatching to serve as firewalls. This style is called yamatomune. The oldest example of this type of house is the NAKA family residence in Nara Prefecture (converted from semi-gabled irimoya to yamatomune in 1770; see photo C). Another house also converted in the late 18th century is the well-known YOSHIMURA family residence, found in the city of Habikino. This style came into existence to prevent fires from breaking out.

Former YAMASHITA residence
(Sugihashi,Tsuruga City,
Fukui Pref.)
Present location:
Open Air Museum of Old Japanese Farmhouses.

Because it was built in an area with heavy snows, the roof is significantly sloped, and the framework is sturdy. Dates to the 18th-19th centuries. Type found throughout the region that spreads from the areas north of Lake Biwa through western Fukui Prefecture.

Former MARUTA residence
(Totsukawa-Village,
Nara Pref.)
Present location:
Open Air Museum of Old Japanese Farmhouses.

Odare, to avoid fog, are hung from the eaves of this structure's roof made of horse chestnut wood shingles.As it belonged to a forester, the doma consists solely of a small area in the entrance space on the right side. Converted in the early 19th century.

NAKA residence
(Ado Town,
Ikoma-gun,
Nara Pref.)

The home of a wealthy farmer and village headman, this house is the oldest example of the yamatomune style. The main house dates to the mid 17th century and is in the semi-gabled irimoya style with a grass-thatched roof. In 1770, the roof of the villa and of the upper part of the kamaya were refurbished and converted to tile.

Special Characteristics of the Minka found in Kansai

Because people have been finding methods since the late 17th century to deal with heavy snows and rain as well as to prevent fires in these houses, a number of the Kansai minka that we have looked at are clearly not the product of some abstract ideal based on the ancient climate characteristics of the region. Furthermore, there are those elements in Kansai minka meant to deal with cold that are not found in minka elsewhere, even in colder parts of the country. But the most significant of the unique characteristics of minka in the Kansai region is the complexity and variety of its flat structure and the rapid appearance of four-room minka. That is, the basic format of the minka throughout Japan is a three-room arrangement, and from this basic format came the four-room arrangement, appearing in general in the latter part of the 18th century. However, the four-room arrangement had already been in existence in the central Kinai district since the early 17th century, and is clearly original. Furthermore, while varieties of arrangements spread throughout the Kinai district, arrangements of central open areas are found only in the eastern and western edges of this district. These items represent the most important unique characteristics of Kansai minka.

The Kansai Climate

The climate and the nature of the land, that is, those characteristics that dictate what may be cultivated, are said to divide the Kansai region or the Kinki district into northern, central, and southern areas. As might be expected, winters are cold and the amount of snow that piles up is quite large in the northern area. The southern area is warm, except some parts that lie in the mountains, where the amount of rain is the highest in Japan. Summer temperatures are generally the same throughout. As for the nature of the land, the Osaka plains and the Yamashiro-Nara Basin in the central region are rich in agriculture. Because cotton and rapeseed oils were produced in great volume during what is referred to as Japan's early modern period, many of the farming households were quite wealthy. In the case of the mountain areas, forestry is the main business rather than rice cultivation.