Japanese traditional house has an unusual name. It sounds like a mink. In translation, this word means "house of people." Today, in the Land of the Rising Sun, such a structure can only be found in rural areas.
Types of Japanese houses
In ancient times, the word "minka" was used to call the peasant dwellings of the Land of the Rising Sun. The same houses belonged to merchants and artisans, that is, to that part of the population that was not samurai. However, today there is no class division of society, and the word "minka" is applied to any traditional Japanese houses that are of an appropriate age. Such dwellings, located in areas with different climatic and geographical conditions, have a fairly wide range of sizes and styles.
But be that as it may, all minks are divided into two types. The first of these includes village houses. They are also called noka. The second type of mink is city houses (matiya). There is also a subclass of noka - a Japanese fishing house. What is the name of such a dwelling? These are gyoka village houses.
Mink Device
Traditional Japanese houses are veryoriginal buildings. In general, they are a canopy standing over empty space. The roof of the mink rests on a frame made of wooden poles and rafters.
Japanese houses in our understanding have neither windows nor doors. Each room has three walls, which are light doors that can be pulled out of the grooves. They can always be moved or removed. These walls play the role of windows. Their owners cover them with white, cigarette-like rice paper and call them shoji.
A characteristic feature of Japanese houses are their roofs. They look like the hands of a praying person and converge at an angle of sixty degrees. The external association that mink roofs evoke is reflected in their name. It sounds like "gassho-zukuri", which means "folded hands".
Traditional Japanese houses that have survived to this day are historical monuments. Some of them are protected by the national government or local municipalities. Some of the buildings are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Materials of main structures
Peasants could not afford the construction of expensive housing. They used those materials that were the most accessible and cheap. Minka was built from bamboo and wood, clay and straw. Various types of herbs were also used.
Wood was usually used to make the "skeleton" of the house and the roof. Bamboo and clay were taken for the outer walls. The internal ones were replaced by sliding partitions or screens. At the device of a roof straw and grasses were used. Sometimes fired clay tiles were laid on top of these natural materials.
Stone served to strengthen or create a foundation. However, this material was not used in the construction of the house itself.
Minka is a Japanese house, the architecture of which is traditional for the Land of the Rising Sun. The supports in it form the “skeleton” of the structure and are ingeniously, without the use of nails, connected to the transverse beams. Holes in the walls of the house are shoji, or heavy wooden doors.
Roof installation
Gashō-zukuri have the tallest and most recognizable Japanese houses. And this feature is given to them by their amazing roofs. Their height allowed residents to do without a chimney. In addition, the design of the roof provided for the arrangement of extensive storage facilities in the attic.
The high roof of the Japanese house reliably protected the mink from the rain. Rain and snow, not stale, immediately rolled down. This design feature did not allow moisture to enter the room and rot the straw from which the roof was made.
Mink roofs are classified into different types. In matiya, for example, they are usually pointed, gable, covered with tiles or shingles. The roofs of most Nok village houses differed from them. They, as a rule, were covered with straw and had a slope on four sides. On the ridge of the roof, as well as in those places where varioussections, special caps were installed.
Interior decoration of the dwelling
Minka usually consisted of two sections. One of them had an earthen floor. This area was called home. In the second section, the floor was raised above the level of the dwelling by half a meter.
Food was being prepared in the first room. A clay oven, barrels for food, a wooden washbasin and jugs for water were placed here.
The room with a raised floor had a built-in hearth. The smoke from the fire built in it went under the roof and did not interfere with the inhabitants of the house at all.
What impression does a Japanese house make on European tourists? The reviews of those who first got inside the mink speak of the surprise that the complete absence of furniture caused them. Only the bare wooden details of the dwelling's construction are revealed to the visitors' gaze. These are support posts and rafters, planed ceiling boards and lattice shoji that gently scatter sunlight through rice paper. The floor is completely empty, covered with straw mats. There are no decorations on the walls either. The only exception is a niche in which a picture or a scroll with a poem is placed, under which there is a vase with a bouquet of flowers.
To a European person who enters a Japanese house, it seems that this is not a dwelling, but just a decoration for a theatrical performance. Here you have to forget about existing stereotypes and understand that a home is not a fortress, but something that allows you to feel harmony with nature and your inner world.
A century-old tradition
Fortea drinking plays an important role in the social and spiritual life of the inhabitants of the East. In Japan, this tradition is a strictly scheduled ritual. It is attended by a person who brews and then pours tea (master), as well as guests drinking this amazing drink. This ritual originated in the Middle Ages. However, it is still part of Japanese culture today.
Tea House
The Japanese used separate facilities for the tea ceremony. Honored guests were received in the tea house. The main principle of this building was simplicity and naturalness. This made it possible to carry out the ceremony of drinking a fragrant drink, moving away from all earthly temptations.
What are the design features of Japanese tea houses? They consist of a single room, which can only be entered through a low and narrow passage. To enter the house, visitors have to bow strongly. This has a certain meaning. After all, all people had to bow low before the start of the ceremony, even those who had a high social position. In addition, the low entrance did not allow in the old days to enter the tea house with weapons. The samurai had to leave it in front of the door. It also made the person focus on the ceremony as much as possible.
The architecture of the tea house included a large number of windows (from six to eight), which had different shapes and sizes. The high location of the openings indicated their main purpose - to pass the sunlight. Guests could admire the surrounding nature only if the hosts opened the frames. However, as a rule, during the ritual of tea drinking, the windows were closed.
Tea house interior
The traditional ceremony room had nothing superfluous. Its walls were finished with gray clay, which, reflecting sunlight, created a feeling of being in the shade and tranquility. The floor was certainly covered with tatami. The most important part of the house was a niche (tokonoma) made in the wall. A censer with incense was placed in it, as well as flowers. There was also a scroll with sayings, which were selected by the master for each specific case. There were no other decorations in the tea house. In the very center of the room, a bronze hearth was arranged, on which a fragrant drink was prepared.
For admirers of tea ceremonies
If desired, do-it-yourself Japanese houses can be erected in summer cottages. For unhurried ceremonies, a gazebo made in the style of the architecture of the Land of the Rising Sun is also suitable. The main thing to consider in this case is the impossibility of using some traditional oriental materials in our climate. This applies in particular to partitions. They will not be able to use oiled paper.
It is advisable to make a Japanese-style house out of wood, taking natural stone, fiberglass and gratings for decoration. Blinds made of bamboo will be appropriate here. This material in the culture of Japan symbolizes success, rapid growth, vitality and good luck.
When making a gazebo or a house, you should not use a wide range of colors. The structure must be in harmony with nature and merge with it. Not far from the entrance, it is desirable to plant a mountain pine. A real decoration of the building will be the water surface, a stone lantern, a bamboo fence and a rock garden. Without this landscape, it is difficult to imagine a Japanese-style tea ceremony. The simplicity and unpretentiousness of the environment will create true peace. It will allow you to forget about earthly temptations and give you the highest sense of beauty. And this will help a person to approach the comprehension of reality from new, philosophical positions.
