日本家屋

Traditional homes

Naturally practical

Filtered through the designs of temples and shrines and influenced by styles from mainland Asia, traditional Japanese architecture is defined by an emphasis on natural materials and a reverence for careful craftsmanship and calming, well-proportioned spaces.

In a land prone to earthquakes, buildings made from natural materials that are able to flex stand a better chance of withstanding a tremor than bricks and glass. Fortunately, Japan’s ancient forests were a ready source of such materials, providing builders with lumber, bamboo, and plant fibers. The natural beauty of the wooden elements was showcased by leaving the grain unpainted, and master carpenters became skilled at finding ways to join the beams of a house without using nails. Although largely unadorned, houses sometimes had decorative features carved into roof lintels and window frames.

Bamboo was used for rafters, ceilings, fences, and external blinds (sudare), while the interior space was divided as necessary by shoji (movable screens) and fusuma (sliding doors). Panels of opaque washi (Japanese paper) in the shoji both allowed in light and cast calming shadows. This clever combination of design features and sustainable materials suited to the Japanese climate—with extremes of hot and cold weather and high humidity—enabled the interior to stay refreshingly cool in the summer and warm and cozy in winter.

D Left to right: Shirakawa is famed for its traditional buildings; interiors are designed to work in harmony with the building’s natural surroundings.

calming interior

Visiting a traditional Japanese home—or, even better, staying in one of the country’s many ryokan (traditional inns)—feels like stepping into a meticulously designed work of art. You enter first through the genkan, a porch area that acts as a clear point of separation between the outside world and the domestic sphere. Remove your shoes here, then step up to the wooden surface of the main entrance corridor and proceed into the house. Some larger houses may also have an entrance for visitors on the engawa—a raised wooden veranda that runs around the outside edge of the house; here, you stand on the stone step to remove your shoes. The engawa acts as a corridor that can either be left open as a place to sit and enjoy the surroundings in good weather or be sealed off by storm shutters.

At the heart of the house is the irori, a sunken hearth where charcoal is burned for heating and cooking. Reception and living rooms are heated in winter by a kotatsu, a low wooden table with a heater underneath and a fringe of a blanket or futon under which you can tuck your legs. Also in the main reception room will be the tokonoma—a recessed space for displaying artistic items such as a hanging calligraphy scroll and an ikebana flower display. These items are often changed to reflect the seasons.

D Seating inside the home is on cushions on the floor.

Be More Japan Traditional homes

Tatami

The distinctive and pleasant smell of a Japanese room—not unlike freshly cut grass—comes from the tatami. These rectangular padded straw-and-rush mats are used for flooring, providing a soft surface on which to sit and sleep (cushions and futons are used instead of chairs and beds). Tatami come in an aspect ratio of 2 to 1 and have different standard sizes depending on the region in which they are made: Tokyo tatami mats, for example, are smaller than those in Kyoto. They continue to be popular even in modern Japanese homes, where at least one room may be covered in tatami, and room sizes are often still quoted in terms of the number of tatami mats that would cover the floor.