Old fabric shop in Nara

Machiya (町屋/町家^?) are traditional wooden townhouses found throughout Japan and typified in the historical capital of Kyoto. Machiya (townhouses) and nōka (farm dwellings) constitute the two categories of Japanese vernacular architecture known as minka (folk dwellings). Machiya originated as early as the Heian period and continued to develop through to the Edo period and even into the Meiji period. Machiya housed urban merchants and craftsmen, a class collectively referred to as chōnin (townspeople). The word machiya is written using two kanji: machi (町) meaning “town”, and ya (家 or 屋) meaning “house” (家) or “shop” (屋) depending on the kanji used to express it.

Kyōmachiya [edit]

Machiya in Kyoto, sometimes called kyōmachiya (京町家 or 京町屋) defined the architectural atmosphere of downtown Kyoto for centuries,^[1] and represent the standard defining form of machiya throughout the country.

The typical Kyoto machiya is a long wooden home with narrow street frontage, stretching deep into the city block and often containing one or more small courtyard gardens or tsuboniwa. Machiya incorporate earthen walls and baked tile roofs, and could be one, one and a half, two, or occasionally even three stories high.^[1] The front of the building traditionally served as the retail or shop space, generally having sliding or folding shutters that opened to facilitate the display of goods and wares. Behind this mise no ma (店の間, "shop space"), the remainder of the main building is divided into the kyoshitsubu (居室部) or "living space," composed of divided rooms with raised timber floors and tatami mats, and the doma (土間) or tōriniwa (通り庭), an unfloored earthen service space that contained the kitchen and also serves as the passage to the rear of the plot, where storehouses known as kura (倉 or 蔵) are found. A hibukuro (火袋) above the kitchen serves as a chimney, carrying smoke and heat away and as a skylight, bringing light into the kitchen.^[2] The plot's width was traditionally an index of wealth, and typical machiya plots were only 5.4 to 6 meters wide, but about 20 meters deep, leading to the nickname unagi no nedoko, or eel beds.

The largest residential room, located in the rear of the main building, looking out over the garden which separates the main house from the storehouse, is called a zashiki (座敷) and doubled as a reception room for special guests or clients.^[3] The sliding doors which make up the walls in a machiya, as in most traditional Japanese buildings, provide a great degree of versatility; doors can be opened and closed or removed entirely to alter the number, size, and shape of rooms to suit the needs of the moment. Typically, however, the remainder of the building might be arranged to create smaller rooms including an entrance hall or foyer (genkan, 玄関), butsuma (仏間),^[4]　and naka no ma (中の間) and oku no ma (奥の間), both of which mean simply "central room".^[5]

One occasion when rooms are altered significantly is during the Gion Matsuri, when families display their family treasures, including byōbu (folding screen) paintings and other artworks and heirlooms in the machiya.^[6] Machiya also provide space for costumes, decorations, portable shrines (御神輿, omikoshi), floats, and other things needed for the festival, as well as hosting spectators along the festival's parade route.

Machiya design addresses climate concerns. Kyoto can be quite cold in winter, and extremely hot and humid in the summer. Multiple layers of sliding doors (fusuma and shōji) are used to moderate the temperature inside; closing all the screens in the winter offers some protection from the cold, while opening them all in the summer offers some respite from the heat and humidity. Machiya homes traditionally also made use of different types of screens which would be changed with the seasons; woven bamboo screens used in summer allow air to flow through, but help to block the sun.^[7] The open air garden courtyards likewise aid in air circulation and bring light into the house.^[8]

Design elements [edit]

Facade of a shop in the historic Matsuyama merchant quarter, Uda city, Nara prefecture; example of machiya design. Kōshi latticework on the ground floor; earthwork walls on the second story with mushikomado windows. Clay roof tiles.

The front of a machiya features wooden lattices, or kōshi (格子), the styles of which were once indicative of the type of shop the machiya held. Silk or thread shops, rice sellers, okiya (geisha houses), and liquor stores, among others, each had their own distinctive style of latticework. The types or styles of latticework are still today known by names using shop types, such as Itoya-gōshi (糸屋格子, lit. "thread shop lattice") or Komeya-gōshi (米屋格子, lit. "rice shop lattice).^[9] These lattices sometimes jut out from the front of the building, in which case they are called degōshi (出格子).^[10] Normally unpainted, the kōshi of hanamachi (geisha and oiran districts) were frequently painted in bengara (紅殻), a vermillion or red ochre color.

The facade of the second story of a machiya is generally not made of wood, but of earthwork, with a distinctive style of window known as mushiko mado (虫籠窓, lit. "insect cage window").^[10]

The main entrance into a machiya consists of two doors. The Ō-do (大戸, lit. "big door") was generally used only to transport goods, or large objects, into the building, while the smaller kugurido (潜り戸), or "side door", was for normal, everyday use, i.e. for people to enter and exit.

Community [edit]

Machiya communities can be compared to the hutongs of Beijing. Small neighborhoods made up of closely grouped homes organized on both sides of a narrow street, sometimes with small alleyways (路地, roji) in between the homes, help to create a strong sense of community. In addition, many areas were traditionally defined by a single craft or product. The Nishijin neighborhood, for example, is famous for its textiles; sharing a craft contributed greatly to a sense of community among fellow textile merchants in this area.^[11]

Destruction [edit]

Machiya are rapidly disappearing; their destruction has a powerfully adverse effect on the historic and traditional cultural atmosphere of Kyoto, and of the other neighborhoods and cities where they are being destroyed. Machiya are difficult and expensive to maintain, are subject to greater risk of damage or destruction from fire or earthquakes than more modern buildings, and are in the minds of many simply outdated and old-fashioned. In a survey conducted in 2003, over 50% of machiya residents noted that it is financially difficult to maintain a machiya.^[12]

Between 1993 and 2003, over 13% of the machiya in Kyoto were demolished. Roughly forty percent of those demolished were replaced with new modern houses, and another 40% were replaced with high-rise apartment buildings, parking lots, or modern-style commercial shops^[12] Of those machiya remaining, over 80% have suffered significant losses to the traditional appearance of their facades. Roughly 20% of Kyoto's machiya have been altered in a process called kanban kenchiku (看板建築, lit. "signboard architecture"); they retain the basic shape of a machiya, but their facades have been completely covered over in cement, which replaces the wooden lattices of the first story and mushikomado windows and earthwork walls of the second story. Many of these kanban kenchiku machiya have also lost their tile roofs, becoming more boxed-out in shape; many have also had aluminum or steel shutters installed, as are commonly seen in small urban shops around the world.^[12]

There are groups, however, which are taking action to protect and restore machiya in Kyoto. One such institution, the "Machiya Machizukuri^[13] Fund," was established in 2005 with the backing of a Tokyo-based benefactor. The group works alongside individual machiya owners to restore their buildings and to have them designated as "Structures of Landscape Importance" (景観重要建造物, keikan jūyō kenzōbutsu^[14]); under this designation, the structures are protected from demolition without the permission of the mayor of Kyoto, and a stipend is provided by the city government to the owners of the machiya to help support the upkeep of the building. Many of these restored buildings serve, at least in part, as community centers.^[15]

Iori, a company founded by art collector, author, and traditional culture advocate Alex Kerr in 2004 to save old machiya, owns a number of machiya which it restored, maintains, and rents to travelers. The company's main office, itself located in a machiya, houses a traditional arts practice space, including a full-size Noh stage.^[16]

Examples [edit]

There are many machiya remaining in Kyoto. Many are private residences, while others operating as businesses, notably cafes, and a few are museums. The largest machiya in Kyoto is Sumiya in Shimabara, the traditional yūkaku (遊廓、遊郭^?, pleasure quarter) of Kyoto.

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Kyoto Machiya Resource
• Living in Machiya
• Traditional Kyoto architecture
• Sugimoto Residence -- A Kyoto Machiya
• Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System: Machiya
• JNTO site -- Kyoto Machiya
• Japan Visitor -- Kyoto Townhouses
• The Herbert Offen Research Collection of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, and important research collection in regards to Machiya

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Machiya

v t e Elements of Japanese architecture Styles Buddhist Buke Daibutsuyō Gassho Giyōfū Hachiman Hirairi Hiyoshi (also called Hie) Irimoya Ishi-no-ma Kasuga Kibitsu Nagare Ōbaku Zen Setchūyō Shinden Shinmei Shinto Shoin Sukiya Sumiyoshi Taisha Wayō Zenshūyō A model of Himeji Castle Building types Butsuden Castle Chashitsu Dō Haiden Heiden Hokora Hōkyōintō Kura Kyōzō Machiya Main Hall Minka Setsumatsusha Shōrō Tahōtō Tō Yagura Roof styles Hidden roof Irimoya Karahafu Structural Burdock piling Chigi Disordered piling Engawa Fusuma Hisashi Irimoya-zukuri Irori Jinmaku Katōmado Katsuogi Kuruwa Mokoshi Moya Nakazonae Namako wall Nightingale floor Onigawara Ranma Shōji (see also washi) Sōrin Tamagaki Tatami Tokonoma Tokyō Tsumairi Shibi Gates and approaches Genkan Kairō Karamon Mon Nijūmon Niōmon Rōmon Sandō Sanmon Sōmon Torii (Mihashira) Rooms Chashitsu Daidokoro Mizuya Shoin Toilets Washitsu Furnishings Butsudan Byōbu Chabudai Emakimono Furo Futon Getabako Kaidan dansu Kamado Kamidana Kichō Kotatsu Misu Noren Sudare Tamaya Tansu Zabuton Zafu Outdoor objects Chōzuya/Temizuya Ishigantō Komainu Tōrō Measurements Ken Koku Ri Shaku Sun Groups Architectural Institute of Japan Japan Institute of Architects Metabolist Movement See also Groups of Traditional Buildings Iki Japanese garden (zen) National Treasures (castles residences shrines temples) Ryokan Sentō Wabi-sabi Yabo