Minka is a traditional Japanese village house. Japanese style house

Japan, like its culture, has always been a mysterious and alluring country for Europeans, deserving close attention. The space of the inhabitants of the islands is quite limited, and over the years they have adapted to plan the arrangement of dwellings in a special way.

They learned to plan economically and clearly, rationally using all the available space. What are the features of Japanese houses, and what distinguishes and characterizes this unusual style? A residential Japanese house is called "minka", which literally means "house of people" in Japanese. But in the country there is another traditional type of house, designed for ritual activities. It's called a pagoda.

A huge part of the Japanese used to live in modest wooden houses. Some of them are perfectly preserved to this day. Of course, they are no longer relevant for today's residents. Most of them live in small private cottages or in modern multi-apartment high-rise buildings.

What did the traditional minka look like and what did it consist of?

1. The base of the house, or its backbone, was made of wood.
2. The walls outside were finished with bamboo and plastered.
3. Instead of walls inside the building, special sliding screens were used.
4. Tatami mats and musiro mats were used to make .

Depending on the region, the design of buildings could change, something improved over time.

But the main thing remained unchanged - it was inexpensive and as simple as possible housing that could protect the family from bad weather.

Richer people, merchants and wealthy peasants, could use more expensive materials- burnt tiles quality wood, durable stone.

Today, the Japanese minka is rather a tradition that is of great interest to many visitors.

Features of a Traditional Japanese House

Signs of a traditional Japanese dwelling

Minimalism- one of the main signs of a house in which absolutely everything is thought out, functional and rational.

• There is nothing superfluous here, conciseness and simplicity are valued.
• Here, by definition, chaos, a mess, an accumulation of unnecessary things is impossible.
• You will not find in such a dwelling or closet cluttered with unfashionable clothes, broken appliances, skis and old bicycles.
• Minimalism is present in everything, both in the arrangement of the house from the outside, and in the last corner inside.

Functionality

• In a typical Japanese home, there can be no unusable space by definition.
• Each tiny section of the square is carefully thought out.
• In this country, most dwellings traditionally have small size, so homeowners have to make the most of all available square meters.
• Only necessary Appliances, functional: tenants try to remove all things and objects, close them so that nothing is in sight, does not interfere and does not violate the general style of the dwelling.

Furniture minimum

Screen doors

• It is not so often possible to see our traditional ones in a Japanese home.
• Typically, screens, sliding doors and lungs are used in such houses.
• The main principles that the islanders try to adhere to are convenience and comfort, respect for space and as little noise as possible.

No strong walls

• A typical house built in Japanese style, does not have solid and strong.
• It is compact and fairly lightweight.
• Its walls are thin and have a small.
• Typical Vacation home usually a simple quadrilateral.
• The role of the inner walls is played by special movable partitions. They can be interchanged by own will decorating your home in different ways.
• As internal partitions of dwellings, the Japanese use high-quality plastic or frosted tempered glass.
• In the old days, special screens were made from processed rice paper, which was then decorated with fancy patterns.
• It is the absence of solid stationary partitions inside the house that makes such a dwelling dynamic and mobile, and its interior alive and changing.
• The design of the room can always be changed according to the mood, the number of inhabitants or the season.
• You can play with the living space by making the rooms smaller or larger.

Transformer house and other quirks

• The Japanese house is a kind of transformer that its inhabitants easily adjust to their own needs.
• At the rooftops Japanese houses traditionally a very slight slope. Thanks to this, the structure looks wide and rather squat.
• The entire interior space of such a dwelling is as open as possible. It is unlikely that you will find many small rooms, nooks and tiny closets there. Even in small house there is always plenty of free space.
• The walls of Japanese-style houses are usually decorated with paintings. It can be a flowering sprig of Japanese cherry in an exquisite dark frame, which should have rectangular shape. Local design does not welcome catchy and frilly salaries with various curls.

famous feng shui

• For decoration in a Japanese home, Feng Shui symbols are usually used, including various amulets and exquisite figurines.
• But all the decor is used in small quantities - local design is intolerant of excesses.
• The house must certainly contain living plants, especially a wooden one-story building.
• It can be an elegant bonsai in a pointedly simple but refined pot. Often in a dwelling here you can see a miniature plum or pine tree, which differs from the real one only in size.

Niches and partitions

• A common feature of Japanese houses is small wall niches.
• Traditionally, they place carefully selected items and trifles that do not fall out of the general style.
• Very often, original stained glass is used here to decorate various objects and partitions.

Textile and light

• textiles in Japanese interior used at the bare minimum.
• Fabric curtains often replace comfortable bamboo blinds.
• You will also rarely find expensive bedspreads and carpets here.
• Stylish comfortable mats have been completely replaced, the beds are covered with a dense fabric of calm tones without bright patterns.
• Islanders don't like dead white light modern lamps A: They can use it at work or in the office.
• For home comfort they prefer soft, warm, warming tones.

For warming comfort, special Akari lamps have been created. Perhaps, such a device can be found in every suburban Japanese private house.

Materials for houses using Japanese technology

Locals prefer natural natural materials, both the construction of the buildings themselves, and for their decoration.

What materials do the Japanese like more than others??

Wood

A rock

• Stone is also often used to build dwellings.
• In the Land of the Rising Sun, a peculiar philosophy of stone is very popular. According to her, minerals are, as it were, the highest creations of almighty nature.
• The stone is hard, indestructible, silent and independent.

The stone is virtually invulnerable, and has many other qualities beyond the control of man. Therefore, it is actively used for finishing with outer side at home, and in interior design.

Own stone house outside the city, with wooden elements - the dream of any local resident.

Other materials

Other materials are also active in the architecture and design of traditional houses:

• rattan,
• sisal,
• jute,
• straw and more.

Rugs, mats, window curtains and other textiles are made from these materials. Such products are much nicer than heavy dusty curtains. Dust does not accumulate in Japanese counterparts, they are perfectly cleaned and laundered with the simplest means.

Fashion for a house or dwelling decorated in unusual style, has always existed. But the case of houses built with a claim to the Japanese style is a little different from the options to imitate Italian, French or Dutch architecture. Western houses have always been the epitome of practicality and adaptability to the local climate.

The traditional Japanese house was calling card the family that lived in it, and in most cases was created not to achieve maximum comfort of living, but as a continuation of the traditions and complex worldviews of centuries-old culture.

What is Japanese architecture

Even a common person, far from the originality of the Japanese style, once looking at a Japanese temple, pagoda or old house samurai, will confirm - this is unusual and beautiful. To create a Japanese-style house, you need a little:

• In the project, take into account the basic, understandable to us, canons and rules of the Japanese tradition;
• Give the building classic features and structural elements to emphasize the belonging of the architecture of the house to the Japanese style;
• Design the space around the house in accordance with the requirements of Japanese architectural tradition and style. The territory, vegetation, landscape ideally are an organic continuation of the Japanese house.

Important! When building a house in the Japanese tradition, it is very important to copy not the elements of the building, but the style of their design. It is extremely difficult to build a real Japanese house due to the huge number of details and nuances. Moreover, for a Westerner, such a dwelling is not always convenient and understandable. It is much easier to create Japanese-style house designs.

Differences and features of a Japanese-style house

A real traditional Japanese house is a little different from the structures we know from films and photos. Those examples of Japanese architecture and style that we know belong to the family estates and castles of wealthy people, high-ranking dignitaries, military leaders and clergy in ancient Japan.

They became the basis for the creation modern houses in Japanese style. Classic Japanese houses in different parts Japan differed in some details, but all were built according to the same laws:

1. The territory on which the house or temple was located was always surrounded by a protective fence, had a large number of plantings planted in strict accordance with established rules, paths and auxiliary facilities;
2. The house had an open and closed part, designed in the form of several terraces, directly in front of the house there was always an open area or a pond;
3. The walls of the house had a large number uprights, which supported the massive roof, and windows, providing normal lighting in most interior spaces.
4. The main part of the house was installed on piles made of wood with two or three stacked supports made of natural stone. This is also the Japanese style of providing thermal insulation and protection from dampness and flood water.

Note! The most recognizable element of the Japanese house has become a specific curved shape of the roof. It is this element that has become decisive for any house built in the Japanese style.

Basic elements of a Japanese-style house

The first thing that makes a house in a typical Japanese style so recognizable and original is the roof of the building. The design of the roof is in many ways reminiscent of elaborate Chinese roofs, but simpler and more practical.

Of the European roof structures, Danish and Dutch hip roofs are closest to the Japanese style, also designed for high rainfall and strong winds from the sea.

Therefore, in a house built in the Japanese style, the roof is always built with a negative curvature of the slopes, as in the photo. Traditionally, in the roof of a Japanese-style house, the roof slopes had several tiers, two or three.

With such a roof structure, snow and moisture did not linger on the roof for a long time, which significantly reduced the load on a very heavy and massive truss system. Long overhangs rafter legs were used as suspension points for lighthouse lanterns, which could be used to navigate the estate at night in pitch darkness.

The oriental style is characterized by very large and long overhangs, especially at the corners and above the entrance to the house. Thus, they tried to divert rain and melt water as far as possible from the foundation and walls of the house.

The second, most recognizable element of the house, characteristic of the Japanese style, was the open terraces and a large number of vertical posts and supports that hold the roof and stiffen the walls of the house.

In the past, this technique made it possible to strengthen the walls of the house with large quantity huge window openings decorative screens, covering the interior from prying eyes. Now it is only a decorative element inherent in the traditional style of the building, photo.

The house in the classical style has always been complemented by a huge canopy over the entrance or side of the building. Traditionally, a place under a canopy or on large terrace was the main location during daylight hours.

In a modern building, this is a beautiful attribute of a Japanese-style house, photo. Terraces surrounded the perimeter of the house, in some cases at least ¾ of the entire space. It was convenient in the old days, and in the same way emphasize the style in modern buildings.

Traditionally, the house in the value system of the inhabitants of Japan was both a temple and a place for ordinary human activities. Therefore, as in many other oriental styles, in the courtyard of the house there may be a chapel, figures and religious objects next to ordinary everyday things and objects.

Such a house has always been built of wood, stone, paper, fabrics. Therefore, in modern interiors and Japanese-style design solutions, even plastic and synthetic materials are most often designed and decorated to look like wood and stone. But, given the great interest in sustainable projects and decorative materials, the interior and exterior of the building in a traditional style only benefits from this.

The third specific attribute of a house in a traditional design style can be called the ability to decorate and create a very beautiful landscape on adjoining territory. It can be a series of shrubs of an unusual shape, or trees, as in the photo, a fancifully laid out garden of stone and ornamental plants, a small pond with a miniature waterfall. Traditionally, Japanese pine was used - bonsai, which was planted at the entrance to the house and along the paths.

A decorative lawn or rock garden in the house has always been complemented by a large playground, on which, in fact, all the main events in the estate took place. Visually, such an addition increased the size of the estate, it was a sign of the high position of the owner. AT modern style The site is traditionally used as a place for car parking.

Today the estate is classic version must be equipped with a gate and a high fence, which is used as thin steel tubular fences, covered with dense shrubs. But in budget options the house is simply surrounded by a high stone wall.

Japanese style house interior

The traditional version of the arrangement of the internal space of the house can be called quite minimalistic and strict. Following traditions, the house should have a minimum amount of furniture and items. Internal walls it is customary to decorate houses with engravings and drawings in the style of graphics and ink painting on silk.

The Japanese style in the interior requires a lot of light, free space, so you can rarely see in front of the windows of the house tall trees or overgrown shrub. At night, due to the large number of lights, the building seems to be entirely made up of windows.

Pretty unusual design ceiling. AT classic house floor beams and roofs often served as a frame and pantry, a place to store a large number of products and various items. Today from old tradition only the symbolic elements of the framework remained.

Most important element the interior had a floor and flooring. The floor was always made of the strongest and hardest type of wood, after assembly it was polished with wax to a shine. In the modern interpretation, natural oak and cedar species are used, less often laminate or carpet covering imitating traditional bamboo mats. For partitions and interior walls in the house, light paper and fabric screens were used, which today are successfully replaced by decorative panels with the texture of silk and bamboo frames.

Conclusion

The beauty of a house built in the Japanese style is very specific and interesting, it is very difficult for European standards to adapt to modern interpretations of the cultural traditions of Japan, so often even in Europe or Asia such houses have only an external resemblance to the main ones. architectural solutions Japanese manor. The internal arrangement of the house is most often adjusted to the needs, habits and preferences of the owners, which does not prevent them from considering their housing to be in accordance with the classical canons.

Modern Japan is no longer the same as it was a century ago. The rapid development of industry has significantly changed the whole life and way of Japanese society. Here is the minka - traditional japanese house, gone into the past, remaining only in the form of museums.

Japanese traditional village dwelling

Traditional in Japan minka- This dwelling of peasants and artisans. That is, this is the home of a not very rich part of Japanese society. And when there is no money, then from what to build your housing? It is clear that from improvised materials that could be obtained nearby.

The climate of Japan, located on the islands, is quite mild. The influence of the monsoons makes it warm and humid. The only exception is the island of Hokkaido, the northernmost of four largest islands of the Japanese archipelago. Snow falls on it in winter and sometimes lies for quite a long time.

In central and southern Japan, the temperature even in winter is very rarely below zero. And the snow, if it falls, then immediately melts. In summer, the temperature reaches 28 - 30 degrees Celsius. In combination with high humidity, it can be quite stuffy.

And another significant factor influenced the housing of the Japanese. The Japanese islands are in a very active tectonic zone. The oceanic plate is crawling under the mainland just in the zone of the Japanese archipelago. Therefore, earthquakes and destruction are frequent here.

It was in such conditions that the minka appeared. He met all the listed requirements of the main inhabitant of Japan - a peasant and an artisan. In winter it is not very cold - you do not need much heating. In the summer it is stuffy - you need to ventilate often.

Materials for construction need a minimum and not very expensive, of local origin. In case of destruction by an earthquake, the house can be easily restored. In the end, the house of the mink appeared. Like, it corresponded to the conditions of the surrounding nature.

How the Japanese dwelling is arranged - minka

The main material and frame of the house is made of wood. Japan is a mountainous country and the slopes of the mountains are often covered with forests. In fact, mountains occupy most of the territory of Japan. People for housing got only the coast and river valleys.

The walls of minka houses are essentially a light frame. Between vertically installed tree trunks or bars, the space is filled very conditionally. Deaf walls occupy only their insignificant surface. They are often filled with woven branches, reeds, bamboo, grass and covered with clay.

Most of the walls are open space, which can be covered with sliding or removable panels. It turns out that in the summer the Japanese live in open nature. At the same time, we, the inhabitants of more severe climatic zones seems quite strange to live with virtually no walls.

The floor in the main part of the house was raised above the ground by about half a meter. This is necessary in order to ventilate it, saving it from decay. Since the house is being built without a foundation, it can be flooded with melt or rainwater if it is too close to the ground.

Inside, the main part of the Japanese house is not divided into rooms at all. This one large room. Which, however, can be divided into different zones by the same movable partitions or screens. There is almost no furniture in a Japanese house. Can you please tell me where to put it? To Wall? But there are no walls as such.

For dinner, they sat down in front of small tables directly on the floor, on which futons were previously laid. A futon is a mattress. They also slept on them at night. And for the day they were cleaned behind the screens. Movable partitions and screens were pasted over with rice paper or silk.

But the food was prepared in a separate part of the house. There was no floor here. Rather, it was earthen or clay. A clay oven was erected on it. They cooked food on it.

There were no windows in the house at all. And the light penetrated through translucent screens or partitions. Or just through the open part of the wall, if it was summer.

The roof was covered with grass, straw or reeds. And in order for water to drain faster from it and not lead to decay, it was made very steep. The angle of inclination reached 60 degrees.

The mink house and its significance for Japan

Living in a traditional Japanese minka house is a kind of philosophy of unity with nature. In fact, the people who lived in such a dwelling lived in nature, only slightly fenced off from it.

Let's start our tour Japanese style from a traditional Japanese house. Many articles on the Japanese home mention Minka (minka), which literally translates to the house of people.

Minka is the dwelling of peasants, artisans, merchants, but not samurai. Mink can be divided into two types: village houses(noka) and city houses (machiya). In turn, in the village houses, a separate type of traditional Japanese fishing houses called gyoka (gyoka) can be distinguished.

Minka were built from cheap and available materials. The frame of the house was made of wood, the outer walls were made of bamboo and clay, and there were no inner walls, instead of them there were partitions or fusuma screens. The roofing of the house, mats and tatami mats were made from grass and straw. Rarely, the roof was covered with baked clay tiles; stone was used to strengthen the foundation of the house.

There are two sections inside the mink, in the first section there was an earthen floor (this part was called doma), the second one rose 50 cm above the level of the house and was covered with tatami. Four rooms were allocated in the "white" part of the house. Two living rooms, including the one where the hearth was located. The third room is a bedroom, the fourth is for guests. The toilet and bath were outside the main part of the house.

The Doma section was used for cooking and a clay oven was installed in it. kamado oven(Kamado), wooden washbasin, barrels for food, jugs for water. In principle, doma is the grandmother of a Japanese-style kitchen, you are unlikely to want to repeat such a kitchen at home.

Rice. 2. Kamado stove in a Japanese house

The entrance to the main building was closed by a large odo door (odo), a built-in door was made in the floor. hearth irori(irori). The smoke from the hearth went up under the roof of the house, sometimes through a small ventilation hole, there was no chimney. The irori hearth was often the only way to light the house during the dark.

samurai house

samurai house was surrounded by a wall with gates, the larger they were in size and better decorated, the higher was the status of the samurai. The basis of the design of the house supporting pillars, the house is rectangular in plan, and it is raised on piles by 60-70 cm from the ground, which protected it from dampness and mold.

Rice. 4. Samurai residence

The house visually resembles a panel frame house, but only partially dismantled depending on the season of the year. The outer walls facing the street were fixed and immovable, while the wall facing the courtyard was made sliding. This wall was called amado (amado), looks like a shield of cohesive wide boards, installed in cold weather or at night before shoji.

Matiya (Machiya) - urban Japanese houses

Machiya these are traditional wooden townhouses that, along with village houses (noka), represent Japanese vernacular architecture (minka).

The Machiya in Kyoto has for centuries been the standard that has defined the form of Machiya throughout the country. That is, if you want to see the real matter then go to Kyoto.

Rice. 8-9. Machiya in Kyoto

Typical Machiya is long wooden house with a facade facing the street. The house itself can be as high as one, and one and a half, two or even three floors.

In front of the building there was often a store, which was closed from the outside with doors that rose or moved apart. This part of the house was the "shop space" of the house.

The rest of the house is the so-called "living space", which consisted of rooms for various purposes, including storing goods, receiving clients and guests, cooking or relaxing.

Rice. ten. Machiya schematic diagram

Shoji and amado

Amado when closing tightly adjoined each other, the extreme amado was locked with a deadbolt lock. This wall reminds us of a clumsy large compartment door that slides into an external storage box made at the edge of the wall, the box itself can also be hinged. In a number of designs, amados were removed completely, they were lifted up and hooked onto special hooks.

Rice. fourteen. Traditional japanese minka house

Rice. eighteen. Amado rise on hooks

Rice. 21. Engawa - traditional Japanese house

Rice. 22. Engawa in a modern interpretation

Shoji perform the function of both windows and doors and partitions. In English spelling, shoji is written shoji.

In modern terms, shoji are traditional Japanese sliding interior partitions that work on the principle of compartment doors. frame and internal partitions such a door is made of wooden blocks, bamboo.

Rice. 24. Shoji construction

Shoji design - the top and bottom tracks are reminiscent of modern aluminum coupe door systems.

Inner space shoji, almost named by analogy with our compartment doors - filling, pasted over with paper, which the Japanese themselves call washi - washi paper.

Washi paper is made from fibers of the bark of the mulberry tree (kozo, kozo), Gampi shrub (gampi), Mitsumata, as well as with the addition of bamboo fibers, wheat, and rice. Because of the last component, paper is mistakenly called rice paper.

traditional technology The production of washi provides for its natural bleaching without chemicals, so the material is environmentally friendly. The paper is strong and flexible.

The division of the living quarters of a Japanese house into rooms was carried out using fusuma sliding partitions. There are no big differences between sliding doors and partitions. The main difference in terms, if the doorway closes, then this is the fusuma door, and these are always opaque partitions, if the whole room or a very large opening is blocked, this is a shoji sliding partition.

Fusuma doors

Fusuma It is a wooden frame covered with washi paper on both sides. For more affluent Japanese, door trim was made with silk. Fusuma doors were opened similarly to shoji doors, that is, according to the principle of compartment doors. Fusuma doors were with an integrated handle, the design of which was also given special attention.

Rice. 34. Interesting modern interpretation of Japanese partitions

By the way, more interesting photo movable partitions from the museum house in Kamamura, Japan and a similar design is already in the modern house.

The use of wooden lattices when creating the facade of the furniture already points to the Japanese style. In the photo below, an interesting design solution in this style when creating cabinets for appliances.

Hallway or genkan in Japanese house

There is something like a hallway in a Japanese house that is understandable to us. Noteworthy is the large difference in height between the entrance and the passage to the house. Such a drop has both a special cultural significance and functions as an "air lock" that separates inner part heated houses from a cold unheated entrance.

Almost in every genkan there is a getabako shoe cabinet and a bench. In this corner, the Japanese leave their street shoes and put on slippers.

A few more photos of the genkan, but in a modern version. I add a photo, because the theme of minimalism in furniture is interesting to me. The light colors and lots of wood are reminiscent of the Scandinavian style.

Dojo (Dojo)

Dojo this is a place where a real Japanese disciplines and improves himself to become better. Initially, it was a place for meditation, later the term dojo was used to name the place where training, competitions in Japanese martial arts take place.

The photo below shows some examples of dojos. This is necessarily a large room, with tatami on the floor, shoji or fusuma sliding partitions.

Tatami in a Japanese house

The floor in the Japanese house is covered with tatami. Tatami these are mats of pressed rice straw sheathed with mats, all this is fastened along the edges with a dense fabric, often black.

Tatami are made rectangular, their size is different in different parts of Japan, in Tokyo the size is 1.76 m * 0.88 m. Poor citizens and villager, unlike the samurai, slept right on the floor, spreading bags stuffed with rice straw.

hibachi

An interesting part of the Japanese home is portable hearths. hibachi, traditionally in the Japanese house they were used for heating.

Initially, hibachi was carved from wood and plastered with clay, then from ceramics and metal. Again, among wealthy Japanese, craftsmen turned hibachi according to the degree of decoration into an object of art.

Rice. 54. ceramic hibachi

Rice. 55. Bronze hibachi

Real hibachi were in the shape of a pot, sometimes in the form wooden pedestal, in the center of which was a container for coal. Now such pots are more used as a decor item for interior design in japanese style.

Hibachi in the form of a cabinet resembles a modern stove, which was already used not only for heating, but also for boiling a kettle.

Irori and kotatsu

In addition to hibachi, there were more effective ways of heating in the Japanese house: irori and kotatsu. Irori is an open hearth that crashed into the floor, near it they not only warmed themselves, but also boiled water.

Rice. 65-66. Kotatsu

It should be understood that the Japanese house today and yesterday are in many ways different things. In our world, new traditions, materials, and technologies are everywhere in place of old traditions, the homeland of the Samurai is no exception. Architecture keeps up with the times and changes, in megacities it is more noticeable, in rural areas it is not so obvious.

🈚 In urban housing, you can find much more similarities with traditional design in the interior arrangement, which can not be said about the appearance.

🈵Attention! Despite the fact that the Japanese style of housing construction was largely influenced by Chinese architecture, it has a number of important features- simplicity, good lighting and asymmetrical!

🈯 Minimalism is the main component of Japanese life and interior design.

How a traditional house is arranged in Japan

The classic housing of Japanese commoners is called Minka. Artisans, fishermen, merchants lived in such buildings, in other words, all those segments of the population that did not belong to the samurai and the nobility.

Minka can be divided into several types:

• matiya: where the townspeople lived;
• noka: peasants lived;
• gyoka: fishermen's buildings;
• gassho-zukuri: mink in remote mountainous areas with steep and massive thatched roofs, silkworm hut.

🈚 Roof Matia - tiles or tiles. Roof Nok - straw or shingles.

🈯 Although Minka, in the classical sense of the word, means medieval buildings, but today this term is applied to any residential building in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Key Features

There are practically no chimneys. This is due to the raised piles of the floor and the high roof.

Increasingly, traditional Japanese houses are built with several floors, although previously only one level was used.

In general, the history of architecture has developed with a combination of climate, relief and other features. For example, heat and humidity influenced the fact that the Japanese dwelling was made as open, ventilated and bright as possible.
And the danger of earthquakes and tsunamis prompted the use of piles in the design. They softened the shocks. They also tried to lighten the roof as much as possible so that when the house was destroyed, it could not cause critical physical damage to the owners.

Japanese style implies a reverent attitude towards purity and harmony. After all, initially the room was a project for a person living on the floor. And for such a philosophy, the absence of dirt and chaos is extremely important. It is not for nothing that such things as special slippers before the restroom and bath or exclusively white socks have become customary.

🈚 To be fair, we note that keeping clean in Japanese square meters is easier than in our apartments. This is due to the minimal presence of furniture - the main place where dust accumulates.

Separately, it is necessary to highlight the Japanese garden

Image: Garden

Harmony with the surrounding world and nature is deeply rooted in the philosophy of this oriental people. And this could not but affect them Everyday life including designing your home.

The Japanese surrounded their homes with wonderful and characteristic gardens only for them. Travelers were amazed by the beautiful and harmonious combination of natural components and man-made products: bridges, ponds, lanterns wrapped in transparent paper, figurines and much more.

But, perhaps, Sakura is the most common element in the Japanese garden. This is not just a plant, it is a real symbol of all eras, dynasties and empires.

🈚 By removing all Fusuma or Shoji, the Japanese turns the house into a kind of "arbor" in his own garden, thereby satisfying the innate need to reflect on the meaning of life. This partly explains the absence of classical windows and doors in our understanding.

🈯By the way, many European and American landscapers garden design the basis of their projects is taken precisely the Japanese style of design of the local area

Device diagram

So, to summarize, the device diagram traditional dwelling Japanese will consist of the following locations:

• outer fence;
• kindergarten;
• tea house (more often among the nobility);
• outbuildings (barn or storage place for tools and tools);
• veranda (engawa);
• main entrance (odo);
• entrance hall Genkan;
• kitchen;
• toilet;
• bathroom or Japanese bath ofuro;
• rooms (washitsu).

🈯 The central part of the house may consist of several wasitsu. If a large meeting of guests is planned, then all partitions are removed, it turns out one large hall!

🈵Important! The Japanese often measure rooms not by square meters, but by the number of tatami mats. The standard mat is 90 cm wide and twice as long.

In general, tatami is an important element of Japanese culture. Their number and location can determine the nature of the wasitsu. For example, it could be a bedroom. In this case, a Japanese Futon mattress is placed on the mats and a standard mattress is obtained. sleeping place a resident of the area, the ancestor of Sumo wrestling.

Tea House or Chashitsu

Important and wealthy families had a tea house on the territory. The first such structures appeared in the 15th century AD. From the name it follows that these places were intended for the tea ceremony and in general had the main properties and signs of culture - minimalism, asceticism, spaciousness and illumination.

🈯 A pond or a lake around is a classic of the genre!

At the same time, there are a number of features:

• Low entry requiring the person to kneel. The main message of this idea is that, regardless of status, everyone should bend down to enter this "temple of tea drinking and spiritual pleasure." The second point is that people with weapons were not allowed here, such a door prevented the samurai from entering Tyashitsu with weapons.
• Opposite the entrance, a place was arranged in which certain attributes were concentrated. These were either traditional calligraphic drawings and texts that were the subject of discussion, or relaxing objects like ikebana or incense-wasting sticks and censers.

🈚Tea houses in Japan promote meditation and tranquility, or vice versa - they are conducive to philosophical conversations.

Pattern: Tea house in Japan

Ryokan Hotels

These hotels can also be classified as traditional Japanese houses. For tourists and travelers, this is a kind of temple of traditional Japanese culture. All rooms are furnished in a manner consistent with Mink's hut.

Here you can plunge into the Japanese identity. Sleep on tatami mattresses. Spend time in o-furo. See the traditional kimonos worn by the staff. Taste with the help of Japanese hashi sticks the national cuisine rich in seafood and vegetables.

Modern Japanese style house

As mentioned at the beginning, modern Japanese housing has changed a lot, especially on the outside, but internal design the interior of almost any native of the Land of the Rising Sun contains a shade national traditions.

In the current realities, when the cost per square meter and interior elements is growing, the Japanese style with its minimalist approach to furnishing is becoming the most practical. And the free layout of their home gives people the opportunity to realize their design fantasies and ideas.

Buildings in urban and rural areas should be considered separately.

City. The appearance of ancient and modern Japanese cities has changed dramatically. In place of the wooden Matia, buildings came, erected using materials such as brick, concrete, iron, bitumen.

In the central parts of the policies, business skyscrapers rise, where the basis of a strong and stable economy is being forged. World famous corporations are located here.

Most of the townspeople live in apartments located in high-rise buildings. As a rule, these are five to seven storey buildings. Dominated one-room apartments. The area of ​​the rooms does not exceed 10 square meters.

The layout of such housing simply surprises with its rationalism when using such a limited area. When you enter, you will see this view:

• Small narrow corridor.
• On one side of the corridor is a combined bathroom.
• On the other side there is a built-in wardrobe and a kitchen.
• Further small room.
• Miniature balcony with drying stick.

Everything is space saving. This is a kitchen built into the closet, and placing plants on the walls, and a miniature bathroom. Well, the tradition of sitting on the floor, and, consequently, the lack of chairs and armchairs.

Entrance to the apartment

Kitchen in the closet

But some Western influences can also be distinguished, for example, the presence of a European bed or a console under the TV.

Wealthier people buy so-called family apartments (60-90 m2) or private houses on the outskirts.

🈵In Japanese houses practically not practiced central heating, gas, electric, infrared and even kerosene heaters are used instead.

Countryside. Houses outside the city are less affected current trends. Although many of them today are modeled after Western society using know-how materials, it is still possible to draw an analogy with the traditional Minko.

Everyone decides for himself to what extent his housing should correspond to classical Japanese culture and style.

Let's single out some of the most common common features that are inherent in houses in the outback now:

• The minimum amount of furniture. Ignoring chairs and armchairs.
• Elevation of the floor half a meter above the ground.
• Free layout provided by movable screens (Fusuma or Shoji).
• High roof.

The more prosperous the peasant, the more he uses the achievements of modern science. The poor people in the countryside still make straw roofs, sleep on futons, and keep warm at the kotatsu.

Frame buildings

Whatever world trends in architecture occur, the Japanese build only frame houses. This technology is simply necessary for them to survive in an earthquake zone.

The frame house is incredibly resistant to tremors, as if it absorbs and extinguishes them. known frame structures, which survived a large number of earthquakes over a thousand years and were practically not affected.

This technology has some advantages! They are relatively easy to restore when destroyed. These structures are lightweight, and when collapsed, they are not likely to cause severe fatal damage.

There are three types of frame houses:

1. Wooden. It's traditional japanese minka, tea houses, temples;
2. Reinforced concrete. Modern skyscrapers.
3. Unusual futuristic buildings. Frame technology allows you to build bizarre buildings unusual shapes and their combinations.

Frame unusual structure

Dome houses - the most modern Japanese technologies in the field of architecture and construction

They have an unusual design in the form of a hemisphere. It looks like alien terrestrial settlements of the future.

The most unique thing is the material. In fact, this is a housing made of reinforced foam! He endows these buildings with such useful and necessary properties for the climate of Japan as strength and high thermal insulation. You can also avoid spending on the frame and foundation, which decently reduces the cost of its cost.

In Europe, they are actively beginning to introduce this technology in the production of seasonal suburban housing.

At the end of the video on the topic: