DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0572
Chap. V.
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE.
501
Regents follow much on the same lines as those of the Mikado,
but their construction is much more solid, and their decoration
much bolder in character. The fortified enclosures round them
are increased in number, those of the castle at Kunamoto now
destroyed, which was built by Kato Kyomasa towards the end
of the 16th century, resembling somewhat the castles of the
Middle Ages with two or three outer courts and a keep within
the inner enclosure.
Domestic Architecture.
If in the palaces of the Mikado and the Daimyos architecture
is reduced to its simplest expression, in the Japanese houses it
is non-existent, so that the aspect of the streets in the great
cities presents a dull and monotonous appearance. The entrance
doorway is the only external feature in which there is some
variety, but even in the most important houses it is only a
simplified version of those found in the more ordinary temples,
there being similar street regulations against display as in
China. The houses have rarely an upper storey, and the design
consists of a square or rectangular block covered with a tiled
roof, the interior being subdivided into rooms by sliding screens
(fusuma) about 6 ft. high. In the better houses there may
sometimes be internal courts with buildings on all sides or all
round. The chief feature of the Japanese house is the verandah
which faces the gardens, and serves as a passage to all the
rooms. The floor of the house is raised about io in. above
the ground, there being no basement of any kind, and the
importance of the room depends on the number of mats which
cover the floor; those mats measure 6 ft. by 3 ft. each. In
a middle-class dwelling the chief reception room may have
fifteen or sixteen mats, the smaller rooms four to eight or ten ;
by pushing aside the screens the whole house can be thrown
into one room, and, as a rule, the side facing the south is thrown
open during the day to ventilate the house. The design of the
verandahs is of the greatest simplicity, with none of the elabora-
tion found in China, and the decoration of the interior is
confined to the upper part of the walls above the screens. In
the chief reception room is always a recess or alcove in which
hanging pictures known as kakemonos are suspended, but
never more than three in number, and a vase of flowers. The
treasures of the house are always stored away in a fireproof
storehouse made with walls of mud or clay, and known as a
godown.
It is not yet possible to foresee what the throwing open of
Japan is likely to evolve in the development of their civil and
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE.
501
Regents follow much on the same lines as those of the Mikado,
but their construction is much more solid, and their decoration
much bolder in character. The fortified enclosures round them
are increased in number, those of the castle at Kunamoto now
destroyed, which was built by Kato Kyomasa towards the end
of the 16th century, resembling somewhat the castles of the
Middle Ages with two or three outer courts and a keep within
the inner enclosure.
Domestic Architecture.
If in the palaces of the Mikado and the Daimyos architecture
is reduced to its simplest expression, in the Japanese houses it
is non-existent, so that the aspect of the streets in the great
cities presents a dull and monotonous appearance. The entrance
doorway is the only external feature in which there is some
variety, but even in the most important houses it is only a
simplified version of those found in the more ordinary temples,
there being similar street regulations against display as in
China. The houses have rarely an upper storey, and the design
consists of a square or rectangular block covered with a tiled
roof, the interior being subdivided into rooms by sliding screens
(fusuma) about 6 ft. high. In the better houses there may
sometimes be internal courts with buildings on all sides or all
round. The chief feature of the Japanese house is the verandah
which faces the gardens, and serves as a passage to all the
rooms. The floor of the house is raised about io in. above
the ground, there being no basement of any kind, and the
importance of the room depends on the number of mats which
cover the floor; those mats measure 6 ft. by 3 ft. each. In
a middle-class dwelling the chief reception room may have
fifteen or sixteen mats, the smaller rooms four to eight or ten ;
by pushing aside the screens the whole house can be thrown
into one room, and, as a rule, the side facing the south is thrown
open during the day to ventilate the house. The design of the
verandahs is of the greatest simplicity, with none of the elabora-
tion found in China, and the decoration of the interior is
confined to the upper part of the walls above the screens. In
the chief reception room is always a recess or alcove in which
hanging pictures known as kakemonos are suspended, but
never more than three in number, and a vase of flowers. The
treasures of the house are always stored away in a fireproof
storehouse made with walls of mud or clay, and known as a
godown.
It is not yet possible to foresee what the throwing open of
Japan is likely to evolve in the development of their civil and