Dwelling

The traditional Japanese home is considered in modern western architecture an ideal embodiment of the connection between architecture and nature. In Japan the national home is an expensive decoration of life of the higher classes of the society. Simplicity and economy are typical of such house. The main materials for its construction are wood and paper. A typical Japanese home is a light framework construction, sometimes without a basement; framework poles are installed on flat base-stones. Only part of the walls, usually the flank ones are fixed; the rest consist of siodzi – adjustable frames covered with transparent paper. Screens made of wooden planks amado are shut for the night or in rainy or cold weather. Between siodzi and amado there is often an engava – a narrow verandah with wooden floor. There are also internal screens called fusuma – wooden frames glued over with cardboard. The combination of siodzi, amado and fusuma can create many planning variants, and fully open the house in hot weather. Several times a day the planning of a house can be changed from one big hall to several rooms. The floor is usually covered with tatami – mats made of rice straw covered up with smooth straw of the igusa grass. The tatami have a strongly fixed size that serves as a module of the whole dwelling. There is almost no furniture; bed sheets and utensils are kept in cupboards. A sleeping mattress is spread for the night, and for meals a low table is put. These units are cleared away when not in use. A typical element of the interior of a Japanese home is a niche called tokonoma in which a kakemono roll hangs – a painting or a calligraphic saying. There is also sometimes a vase with flowers or an antique luxurious kimono, a okimono statuette or a Samurai sword or armor. An ideal interior implies a view to a small garden that represents an ideal landscape in miniature. A lot of beliefs and rituals are connected with elements of a Japanese home.

Interior of house at Hakone resort. Japan, Hakone. The Japanese. Late 19th cent.		Girls at golden daisy. Japan. The Japanese. Early 20th cent.		Peasant's dwelling. Japan, Hokkaido. The Ainu. Late 19th cent.
Japanese park. Japan. The Japanese, by 1906		Street in Japanese town. Japan. The Japanese, early 20th c.		Shinagawa district. Japan. Tokio. Kupin K., 2004
Rainbow bridge over the Gulf of Tokyo. Japan. Tokio. Kupin K., 2004		Road to Mino waterfall. Japan. Osaka. Maykova N., 2005		Defence of light constructions againts tropical cyclones. Japan. Okinawa. Maykova N., 2005
Model of a house "caocu" (яп.) Japan.		Model of a peasant house "no:ca" (яп.) Japan		Model of a hotel "recan" Japan