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Another Random Scribd Document
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CHAPTER VIII. THE ANCIENT HOUSE.

[pg 323]
It would be an extremely interesting line of research to follow out
the history of the development of the house in Japan. The material
for such a study may possibly be in existence, but unfortunately
there are few scholars accomplished enough to read the early
Japanese records. Thanks to the labors of Mr. Chamberlain, and to
Mr. Satow, Mr. Aston, Mr. McClatchie, and other members of the
English legation in Japan,26 students of Ethnology are enabled to
catch a glimpse of the character of the early house in that country.

From the translations of ancient Japanese Rituals,27 by Ernest Satow,

Esq.; of the Kojiki, or “Records of Ancient Matters,”28 by Basil Hall
Chamberlain, Esq.; and an ancient Japanese Classic29, by W. G.
Aston, Esq.,—we get a glimpse of the Japanese house as it was a
thousand years or more ago.

Mr. Satow claims that the ancient Japanese Rituals are “the oldest
specimens of ancient indigenous Japanese literature extant,
excepting only perhaps the poetry contained in the ‘Kojiki’ and
‘Nihongi;’ ” and Mr. Chamberlain says the [pg 324] “Kojiki” is “the
earliest authentic connected literary product of that large division of
the human race which has been variously denominated Turanian,
Scythian, and Altaïc, and it if even precedes by at least a century the
most ancient extant literary compositions of non-Aryan India.”

The allusions to house-structure in the “Kojiki,” though brief, are

suggestive, and carry us back without question to the condition of
the Japanese house in the seventh and eighth centuries.
Mr. Satow, in his translation of the Rituals, says that the period when
this service was first instituted was certainly before the tenth
century, and probably earlier. From these records he ascertains that
“the palace of the Japanese sovereign was a wooden hut, with its
pillars planted in the ground, instead of being erected upon broad,
flat stones, as in modern buildings. The whole frame-work,
consisting of posts, beams, rafters, door-posts, and window-frames,
was tied together with cords, made by twisting the long fibrous
stems of climbing plants,—such as Pueraria Thunbergiana (kuzu)
and Wistaria Sinensis (fuji). The floor must have been low down, so
that the occupants of the building, as they squatted or lay on their
mats, were exposed to the stealthy attacks of venomous snakes,
which were probably far more numerous in the earliest ages when
the country was for the most part uncultivated than at the present
day…There seems some reason to think that the yuka, here
translated ‘floor,’ was originally nothing but a couch which ran
around the sides of the hut, the rest of the space being simply a
mud-floor; and that the size of the couch was gradually increased
until it occupied the whole interior. The rafters projected upward
beyond the ridge-pole, crossing each other as is seen in the roofs of
modern Shin-tau temples, whether their architecture be in
conformity with early traditions (in which case all the rafters are so
crossed), or modified [pg 325] in accordance with more advanced
principles of construction, and the crossed rafters retained only as
ornaments at the two ends of the ridge. The roof was thatched, and
perhaps had a gable at each end, with a hole to allow the smoke of
the wood-fire to escape,—so that it was possible for birds flying in
and perching on the beams overhead, to defile the food, or the fire
with which it was cooked.”

From the “Kojiki” we learn that even in those early days the house
was sufficiently differentiated to present forms referred to as
temples or palaces, houses of the people, storehouses, and rude
huts. That the temples or palaces were more than rude huts is
shown by references to the verandah, the great roof, stout pillars,
and high cross-beams. They were at least two stories high, as we
read of people gazing from an upper story. The peasants were not
allowed to build a house with a raised roof frame,—that is, a roof the
upper portion or ridge of which was raised above the roof proper,
and having a different structure. This indicates the existence at that
time of different kinds of roofs, or ridges. Fire-places were in the
middle of the floor, and the smoke-outlet was in the gable end of the
roof protected by a lattice,—as seen in the Japanese country houses
of to-day. The posts or pillars of the house were buried deep in the
ground, and not, as in the present house, resting on a stone
foundation.

The allusions in the “Kojiki,” where it says, “and if thou goest in a

boat along that road there will appear a palace built like fish-scales,”
and again, “the ill-omened crew were shattered like tiles,” show the
existence of tiles at that time. A curious reference is also made to
using cormorants' feathers for thatch. There were front doors and
back doors, doors to be raised, and windows and openings.

It is mentioned that through the awkwardness of the carpenter the

farther “fin” of the great roof is bent down at the [pg 326] corner,—
probably indicating wide over-hanging eaves, the corners of which
might easily be called “fins.” Within the house were mats of sedge,
skin, and silk, and ornamental screens protect the sleepers from
draughts of air.30 The castles had back gates, side gates, and other
gates. Some of these gates, at least, had a roof-like structure above,
as we read in the “Kojiki,” “Come under the metal gate; we will
stand till the rain stops.”

Fences are also alluded to. The latrine is mentioned several times as
being away from the house, and having been placed over running
water,—“whence doubtless the name Kaha-ya; that is, river-house.”
This feature is specially characteristic of the latrine, from Siam to
Java. This suggestion of early finities with the Malay people is seen
in an ancient Japanese Classic, dating from the tenth century,
entitled Monogatari, or “Tales of Japan,” translated by Mr.
Chamberlain,31 in which we read, “Now, in olden days the people
dwelt in houses raised on platforms built out in the river Ikuta.” In
the “Kojiki”, we also read, “They made in the middle of the river Hi a
black plaited bridge, and respectfully offered a temporary palace to
dwell in.” The translator says the significance of this passage is:
“They built as a temporary abode for the prince a house in the river
Hi (whether with its foundations actually in the water or on an island
is left undetermined), connecting it with the main-land by a bridge
made of branches of trees; twisted together, and with their bark left
on them (this is here the import of the word black).”

The “Kojiki” mentions a two-forked boat: may this be some kind of a

catamaran? Mention is also made of eating from leaf-platters: this is
a marked Malay feature.

[pg 327]
These various statements—particularly those concerning the latrine,
and building houses over the water—are significant indications of the
marked southern affinities of the Japanese. Other features of
similarity with southern people are seen in the general structure of
the house.

The principal references which have been made to the “Kojiki” are
quoted here for the convenience of the reader. For the history of the
origin of this ancient record, methods of translation, etc., the reader
is referred to Mr. Chamberlain's Introduction accompanying the
translation.

And the ill-omened crew were shattered like tiles (p. 8).

So when from the palace she raised the door and came out to
meet him (p. 34).

Taking him into the house, and calling him into an eight-foot-
spaced large room (p. 73).
 Do thou make stout the temple-pillars at the foot of Mount Uka
in the nethermost rock-bottom, and make high the cross-
beams to the Plain-of-High-Heaven (p. 74).

I push back the plank-door shut by the maiden (p. 76).

Beneath the fluttering of the ornamented fence, beneath the

softness of the warm coverlets, beneath the rustling of the
cloth coverlet (p. 81).

The translator says “the ‘ornamented fence’ is supposed to mean ‘a

curtain round the sleeping-place.’ ”

The soot on the heavenly new lattice of the gable, etc. (p.
105).32

Using cormorants' feathers for thatch (p. 126).

The manner in which I will send this sword down will be to

perforate the ridge of [the roof of] Takakurazhi's store-house,
and drop it through!(p. 135)

In a damp hut on the reed-moor, having spread layer upon

layer of sedge mats, we two slept! (p. 149).

When she was about to enter the sea, she spread eight
thicknesses of sedge rugs, eight thicknesses of skin rugs, and
eight thicknesses of silk rugs on top of the waves (p. 212).

[pg 328]
So when the grandee of Kuchiko was repeating this august
Song [to the Empress], it was raining heavily. Then upon his,
without avoid the rain, coming and prostrating himself at the
front door of the palace, on the contrary went out at the back
door; and on his coming and prostrating himself at the back
door of the palace, she on the contrary went out at the front
door (p. 278).

Then the Heavenly Sovereign, going straight to the place

where Queen Medori dwelt, stood on the door-sill of the palace
(p. 281).

Had I known that I should sleep on the

Moor of Tajihi, Oh! I would have brought
My dividing matting. (p. 288.)

“Then, on climbing to the top of the mountain and gazing on

the interior of the country, [he perceived that] there was a
house built with a raised roof-frame. The Heavenly Sovereign
sent to ask [concerning] that house, saying, ‘Whose roof with
a raised frame is that?’ The answeri was: ‘It is the house of
the great Departmental Lord of Shiki.’ Then the Heavenly
Sovereign said: ‘What! a slave builds his own house in
imitation of the august abode of the Heavenly Sovereign!’—and
forthwith he sent men to burn the house [down]” (p. 311).

Thereupon the grandee Shibi sang, saying,—

The further fin of the roof of the great

Palace is bent down at the corner.

When he had thus sung, and requested the conclusion of tha

Song, His Augustness Woke sang, saying,—
 It is on account of the great carpenter's
Awkwardness that it is bent down at the
Corner. (p. 330.)

In the ancient Japanese Rituals, Mr. Satow finds that the rafters
projected upward beyond the ridge-pole of the roof crossing each
other,—as is seen in the roofs of modern Shin-tō temples. A curious
feature is often seen on the gable ends of the roofs of the Malay
houses near Singapore, consisting of projecting pieces crossing each
other at the two ends of the roof; [pg 329] and these are
ornamented by being cut in odd sweeps and curves (fig. 303).
Survivals of these crossing rafters are seen in the modern Japanese
dwelling; that is, if we are to regard as such the wooden X's which
straddle the roof at intervals, as shown in figs. 45 (page 62) and 85
(page 98). A precisely similar feature is seen on the roofs of houses
along the river approaching Saigon, and on the road leading from
Saigon to Cholon, in Anam (fig. 304).

Fig. 303.—Malay house near singapore.

It has been customary to regard the tokonoma, or bed-place, in the

Japanese house as being derived from the Aino house. The
suggestion of such a derivation seems to me to have no foundation.
In the Aino house the solid ground is the floor; sometimes, but not
always, a rush mat is spread along the side of the fireplace, which is
in the centre of the hut. The slightest attention to comfort would
lead the Ainos to erect a platform of boards,—and such a platform is
generally found next to the wall in the Aino hut. This platform not
only serves as a sleeping-place, but holds also boxes and household
goods, as well as such objects as were not suspended to the sides of
the houses or from poles stretched across. In no case did I see a
raised platform protected by a partition, or one utilized solely for a
sleeping-place. If it were safe to venture upon any conjecture as to
the origin of the tokonoma, or if external resemblances had any
weight in affinities of structure, one might see the prototype of this
feature in the Malay [pg 330] house. In the Malay villages near
Singapore, one may see not only a slightly raised place for the bed
exclusively, but also a narrow partition jutting out from the side of
the wall, not unlike that which separates the tokonoma from its
companion recess (fig. 305).

Fig. 304.—Ridge of roof in Cholon, Anam.

Whether these various relations pointed out between the Japanese

house and similar features in the Malay house are of any weight or
not, they must be recognized in any attempt to trace the origin of
those features in house-structure which have originated outside of
Japan. From all that we can gather relating to the ancient house of
the Japanese, it would seem that certain important resemblances
must be sought for among the southern nations of Anam, Cochin
China, and particularly those of the Malay peninsula.
 Fig. 305.—Interior of Malay house, showing bed-place. Singapore.

[pg 331]
Ernest Satow, Esq., in an article on the Shin-tō temples of Ise,33
which, as the author says, “rank first among all the Shin-tō temples
in Japan in point of sanctity, though not the most ancient,” has some
interesting matter concerning the character of the ancient house. He
says:—

“Japanese antiquarians tell us that in early times, before carpenters'

tools had been invented, the dwellings of the people who inhabited
these islands were constructed of young trees with the bark on,
fastened together with ropes made of the rush (suge,—Scirpus
maritimus), or perhaps with the tough shoots of the wistaria (fuji),
and thatched with the grass called kaya. In modern buildings the
uprights of a house stand upon large stones laid on the surface of
the earth; but this precaution against decay had not occurred to the
ancients, who planted the uprights in holes dug in the ground.”

The ground-plan of the hut was oblong, with four corner uprights,
and one in the middle of each of the four sides,—those in the sides
which formed the ends being long enough to support the ridge-pole.
Other trees were fastened horizontally from corner to corner,—one
set near the ground, one near the top, and one set on the top, the
latter of which formed what we call the wall-plates. Two large
rafters, whose upper ends crossed each other, were laid from the
wall-plates to the heads of the taller uprights. The ridge-pole rested
in the fork formed by the upper ends of the rafters crossing each
other. Horizontal poles were then laid along each slope of the roof,
one pair being fastened close up to the exterior angle of the fork.
The rafters were slender poles, or bamboos, passed over the ridge-
pole and fastened down on each end to the wall-plates. Next
followed the process of putting on the thatch. In order to keep this
in its place, two trees were laid along the top resting in the forks;
and across these two trees were placed short logs at equal
distances, which being fastened to the poles in the exterior angle of
the forks by ropes passed through the thatch, bound the ridge of the
roof firmly together.

“The walls and doors were constructed of rough matting. It is

evident that some tool must have been used to cut the trees to the
required length; and for this purpose a sharpened stone was
probably employed. Such [pg 332] stone implements have been
found imbedded in the earth in various parts of Japan, in company
with stone arrow-heads and clubs. Specimens of the ancient style of
building may even yet be seen in remote parts of the country,—not
perhaps so much in the habitations of the peasantry, as in sheds
erected to serve a temporary purpose.”

“The architecture of the Shin-tō temples is derived from the primeval

hut, with more or less modification in proportion to the influence of
Buddhism in each particular case. Those of the purest style retain
the thatched roof; others are covered with the thick shingling called
hiwada-buki, while others have tiled and even coppered roofs. The
projecting ends of the rafters called chigi have been somewhat
lengthened, and carved more or less elaborately. At the new temple
at Kudanzaka in Yedo they are shown in the proper position,
projecting from the inside of the shingling; but in the majority of
cases they merely consist of two pieces of wood in the form of the
letter X, which rest on the ridge of the roof like a pack-saddle on a
horse's back, to make use of a Japanese writer's comparison. The
logs which kept the two trees laid on the ridge in their place have
taken the form of short cylindrical pieces of timber tapering towards
each extremity, which have been compared by foreigners to cigars.
In Japanese they are called katsuo-gi, from their resemblance to the
pieces of dried bonito sold under the name of katsuo-bushi. The two
trees laid along the roof over the thatch are represented by a single
beam, called Munaosae, or ‘roof-presser.’ Planking has taken the
place of the mats with which the sides of the building were originally
closed, and the entrance is closed by a pair of folding doors, turning
not on hinges, but on what are, I believe, technically called
‘journals.’ The primeval hut had no flooring; but we find that the
shrine has a wooden floor raised some feet above the ground, which
arrangement necessitates a sort of balcony all round, and a flight of
steps up to the entrance. The transformation is completed in some
cases by the addition of a quantity of ornamental metal-work in
brass.”

Coming down to somewhat later times, we find a charming bit of

description of the house in an ancient Japanese Classic34 entitled
Tosa Nikki, or “Tosa Diary,” translated by W. [pg 333] G. Aston. This
Diary was written in the middle of the tenth century, and is the
record of a court noble who lived in Kioto, but who was absent from
his home five or six years as Prefect of Tosa. The Diary was a record
of his journey home, and the first entry in it was in the fourth year
of Shohei, which according to our reckoning must have been in the
early part of 935 A.D., or nearly one thousand years ago. During his
absence from home, news had come to him of the death of his little
daughter nine years old; and he says, “With the joyful thought,
‘Home to Kioto!’ there mingles the bitter reflection that there is one
who never will return.”

The journey home was mostly by sea; and finally, having entered
the Osaka River, and spent several days in struggling against the
strong current, he reaches Yamazaki, from which place he starts for
Kioto. He expresses great delight in recognizing the old familiar
landmarks as he rides along. “He mentions the children's playthings
and sweetmeats in the shops as looking exactly as when he went
away, and wonders whether he will find as little change in the hearts
of his friends. He had purposely left Yamazaki in the evening in order
that it might be night when he reached his own dwelling.” Mr. Aston
translates his account of the state in which he found it:—

“The moon was shining brightly when I reached my house and

entered the gate, so that its condition was plainly to be seen. It was
decayed and ruined beyond all description,—worse even than I had
been told. The house35 of the man in whose charge I left it was in an
equally dilapidated condition. The fence between the two houses
had been broken down, so that both seemed but one, and he
appeared to have fulfilled his charge by looking in through the gaps.
And yet I had supplied him, by every opportunity, with the means of
keeping it in repair. To-night, [pg 334] however, I would not allow
him to be told this in an angry tone, but in spite of my vexation
offered him an acknowledgment for his trouble. There was in one
place something like a pond, where water had collected in a hollow,
by the side of which grew a fir-tree. It had lost half its branches, and
looked as if a thousand years had passed during the five or six years
of my absence. Younger trees had grown up round it, and the whole
place was in a most neglectful condition, so that every a one said
that it was pitiful to see. Among other sad thoughts that rose
spontaneously to my mind was the memory—ah! how sorrowful!—of
one who was born in this house, but who did not return here along
with me. My fellow-passengers were chatting merrily with their
children in their arms, but I meanwhile, still unable to contain my
grief, privately repeated these lines to one who knew my heart.”

In this pathetic account one gets a glimpse of the house as it

appeared nearly a thousand years ago. The broken fence between
the houses; the gateway, probably a conspicuous structure then as it
is to-day, in a dilapidated condition; and the neglected garden with a
tangle of young trees growing up,—all show the existence in those
early days of features similar to those which exist to-day.
The history of house development in Japan, if it should ever be
revealed, will probably show a slow but steady progress from the
rude hut of the past to the curious and artistic house of to-day,—a
house as thoroughly a product of Japan as is that of the Chinese,
Korean, or Malay a product of those respective peoples, and differing
from all quite as much as they differ from one another. A few
features have been introduced from abroad, but these have been
trifling as compared to the wholesale imitation of foreign styles of
architecture by our ancestors, the English; and until within a few
years we have followed England's example in perpetuating the
legacy it left us, in the shape of badly imitated foreign architecture,
classical and otherwise. As a result, we have scattered over the land,
among a few public buildings of good taste, a countless [pg 335]
number of ill-proportioned, ugly, and entirely inappropriate buildings
for public use. Had the exuberant fancies of the village architect
revelled in woodsheds or one-storied buildings, the harm would have
been trifling; but the desire for pretentious show, which seems to
characterize the average American, has led to the erection of these
architectural horrors on the most conspicuous sites,—and thus the
public taste is vitiated.

The Japanese, while developing an original type of house, have

adopted the serviceable tile from Korea, and probably also the
economical transverse framing and vertical struts from China, and
bits of temple architecture for external adornments. As to their
temple architecture, which came in with one of their religions, they
had the good sense to leave it comparatively as it was brought to
them. Indeed, the temples seem in perfect harmony with the
country and its people. What shall we say, however, to the taste
displayed by the English, who in the most servile manner have
copied foreign styles of architecture utterly unsuited to their climate
and people! In the space of an English block one may see not only
Grecian, Roman, Italian, and Egyptian, as well as other styles of
architecture, but audaciously attempted crosses between some of
these; and the resulting hybrids have in consequence rendered the
modern English town the most unpicturesque muddle of buildings in
Christendom outside our own country.36

[pg 336]
CHAPTER IX. THE NEIGHBORING
HOUSE.

Having got a glimpse, and a slight glimpse only, of the ancient house
in Japan, it may be of interest to consider briefly the character of the
house in neighboring islands forming part of the Japanese Empire,
and also of the house in that country which comes nearest to Japan
(Korea), and from which country in the past there have been many
both peaceful and compulsory invasions,—compulsory in the fact
that when Hideyoshi returned from Korea, nearly three hundred
years ago, after his great invasion of that country, he brought back
with him to Japan colonies of potters and other artisans.

The Ainos of Yezo naturally claim our attention first, because it is

believed that they were the aboriginal people of Japan proper, and
were afterwards displaced by the Japanese,—a displacement similar
to that of our North American savages by the English colonists.
Whether the Ainos are autochthonous or not, will not be discussed
here. That they are a savage race, without written language,—a race
which formerly occupied the northern part of the main island of
Japan, and were gradually forced back to Yezo, where they still live
in scattered communities,—are facts which are unquestionable. How
far the Aino house to-day represents the ancient Aino house, and
how [pg 337] many features of the Japanese house are engrafted
upon it, are points difficult to determine.

The Ainos that I saw in the Ishikari valley, on the west coast of Yezo,
and from Shiraoi south on the east coast, all spoke Japanese, ate
out of lacquer bowls, used chop-sticks, smoked small pipes, drank
sake, and within their huts possessed lacquer boxes and other
conveniences in which to stow away their clothing, which had
probably been given them in past times by the Japanese, and which
were heirlooms. On the other hand, they retained their own
language, their long, narrow dug-out; used the small bow, the
poisoned arrow, and had an arrow-release of their own; adhered to
their ancestral forms of worship and their peculiar methods of
design, and were quite as persistent in clinging to many of their
customs as are our own Western tribes of Indians. That they are
susceptible to change is seen in the presence of a young Aino at the
normal school in Tokio, from whom I derived some interesting facts
concerning archery.

Fig. 306.—Aino house, Yezo.

Briefly, the Aino house, as I saw it, consists of a rude frame-work of

timber supporting a thatched roof; the walls being [pg 338] made up
of reeds and rush interwoven with stiffer cross-pieces. Within, there
is a single room the dimensions of the house. In most houses there
is an L, in which is the doorway, which may in some cases be
covered with a rude porch. The thatched roof is well made and quite
picturesque, differing somewhat in form from any thatched roof
among the Japanese,—though in Yamato, as already mentioned, I
saw features in the slope of the roof quite similar to those shown in
some of the Aino roofs.

Fig. 307.—Aino house, Yezo.

Entering the house by the low door, one comes into a room so dark
that it is with difficulty one can see anything. The inmates light rolls
of birch-bark that one may be enabled to see the interior; but every
appearance of neatness and picturesqueness which the hut
presented from without vanishes when one gets inside. Beneath
one's feet is a hard, damp, earth floor; directly above are the
blackened and soot-covered rafters. Poles supported horizontally
from these rafters are equally greasy and blackened, and pervading
the darkness is a dirty and strong fishy odor. In the middle of the
floor, and occupying considerable space, is a square area,—the
fireplace. On its two sides mats are spread. A pot hangs over the
smoke, for there appears to [pg 339] be but little fire; and at one
side is a large bowl containing the remains of the last meal,
consisting apparently of fish-bones,—large sickly-looking bones, the
sight of which instantly vitiates one's appetite. The smoke, rebuffed
at the only opening save the door,—a small square opening close
under the low eaves,—struggles to escape through a small opening
in the angle of the roof. On one side of the room is a slightly raised
floor of boards, upon which are mats, lacquer-boxes, bundles of
nets, and a miscellaneous assortment of objects. Hanging from the
rafters and poles are bows, quivers of arrows, Japanese daggers
mounted on curious wooden tablets inlaid with lead, slices of fish
and skates' heads in various stages, not of decomposition, as the
odors would seem to imply, but of smoke preservation. Dirt
everywhere, and fleas. And in the midst of the darkness, smoke, and
squalor are the inmates,—quiet, demure, and gentle to the last
degree. Figs. 306 and 307 give an idea of the appearance of two
Aino houses of the better kind, but perhaps cannot be taken as a
type of the Aino house farther north on the island.

Let us now glance at the house of the natives of the Hachijô

Islanders, as described by Mr. Dickins and Mr. Satow.37 From their
communication the following account is taken:—

“As may readily be supposed, there are no shops or inns on the

island, but fair accommodation for travellers can be obtained at the
farmers' houses. These are for the most part substantially-built
cottages of two or three rooms, with a spacious kitchen, constructed
with the timber of Quercus cuspidata, and with plank walls, where
on the mainland it is usual to have plastered wattles. The roof is
invariably of thatch, with a very high pitch,—necessitated, we were
told, by the extreme dampness of the climate, which renders it
desirable to allow as little rain as [pg 340] possible to soak into the
straw. Many of the more prosperous farmers have a second building,
devoted to the rearing of silkworms, which takes its name (kaiko-ya)
from the purpose to which it is destined. There are also sheds for
cattle, usually consisting of a thatched roof resting on walls formed
of rough stone-work. Lastly, each enclosure possesses a wooden
godown, raised some four feet from the ground on stout wooden
posts, crowned with broad caps, to prevent the mice from gaining an
entrance. The style resembles that of the storehouses constructed
by the Ainos and Loochooans.”

“The house and vegetable-garden belonging to it are usually

surrounded by a stone wall, or rather bank of stones and earth,
often six feet high, designed to protect the buildings from the violent
gales which at certain seasons sweep over the island, and which, as
we learned, frequently do serious injury to the rice-fields by the
quantity of salt spray which they carry a long distance inland from
the shore.”

From this general description of the house which incidentally

accompanies a very interesting sketch of the physical peculiarities of
the island, its geology, botany, and the customs and dialect of the
people, we get no idea of the special features the house,—as to the
fireplace or bed-place; whether there be shōji or ordinary windows,
matted floor, or any of those details which would render a
comparison with the Japanese house of value.

As Mr. Satow found in the language of the Hachijô Islander a

number of words which appeared to be survivals of archaic
Japanese, and also among their customs the curious one, which
existed up to within very recent times, of erecting parturition
houses,—a feature which is alluded to in the very earliest records of
Japan,—a minute description of the Hachijô house with sketches
might possibly lead to some facts of interest.

The Loochoo, or Riukiu Islands, now known as Okinawa Shima, lie

nearly midway between the southern part of Japan and the Island of
Formosa. The people of this group differ [pg 341] but little from the
Japanese,—their language, according to Mr. Satow and Mr. Brunton,
having in it words that appear obsolete in Japan. In many customs
there is a curious admixture of Chinese and Japanese ways; and Mr.
Brunton sees in the Loochooan bridge and other structures certain
resemblances to Chinese methods.

The following extract regarding the house of the Loochooans is

taken from an account of a visit to these islands, by Ernest Satow,
Esq., published in the first volume of the “Transactions of the Asiatic
Society of Japan:”—
 “The houses of the Loochooans are built in Japanese fashion,
with the floor raised three or four feet from the ground, and
have mostly only one story, on account of the violent winds
which prevail. They are roofed with tiles of a Chinese fashion,
very strong and thick. The buildings in which they store their
rice are built of wood and thatched with straw. They are
supported on wooden posts about five feet high, and resemble
the granaries of the Ainos, though constructed with much
greater care.”

Another extract is here given in regard to the house of the

Loochooans, by R. H. Brunton, Esq., published in the “Transactions
of the Asiatic Society of Japan38 ”:—

The streets in the towns present a most desolate appearance.

On each side of these is a blank stone wall of about ten or
twelve feet high, with openings in them here and there
sufficiently wide to admit of access to the houses which are
behind. Every house is surrounded by a wall, and from the
street they convey the impression of being prisons rather than
ordinary dwellings…

“The houses of the well-to-do classes are situated in a yard

which is surrounded by a wall ten or twelve feet high, as has
been already mentioned. They are similar to the ordinary
Japanese houses, with raised floors laid with mats and sliding
screens of paper. They are built of wood, and present no
peculiar differences from the Japanese style of [pg
342]construction. The roofs are laid with tiles, which however
are quite different in shape from the Japanese tiles. Over the
joint between two concave tiles a convex one is laid, and these
are all semi-circular in cross sections. The tiles are made at
Nafa, and are red in color; they appeared of good quality. The
houses of the poorer classes are of very primitive character.
The roof is covered with a thick thatch, and is supported by
 four corner uprights about five feet high. The walls consist of
sheets of a species of netting made of small bamboo, which
contain between them a thickness of about six inches of straw.
This encloses the whole sides of the house,—a width of about
two feet being left in one side as an entrance. There is no
flooring in the houses of any description, and there is generally
laid over the mud inside a mat, on which the inmates lie or sit.”

Considering the presence for so many centuries of strong Chinese

influence which Mr. Brunton sees in the Loochooans, it is rather
surprising to find so many features of the Japanese house present in
their dwellings. Indeed, Mr. Brunton goes so far as to say that the
Loochooan house presents no peculiar differences from the
Japanese style of construction; and as he has paid special attention
to the constructive features of Japanese buildings, we must believe
that had differences existed they would have been noted by him.

It seems to me that the wide distribution of certain identical features

in Japanese house-structure, from the extreme north of Japan to the
Loochoo Islands, is something remarkable. Here is a people who for
centuries lived almost independent provincial lives, the northern and
southern provinces speaking different dialects, even the character of
the people varying, and yet from Awomori in the north to the
southernmost parts of Satsuma, and even farther south to the
Loochoos, the use of fusuma, shōji, mats, and thin wood-ceilings
seems well-nigh universal. The store-houses standing on four posts
are referred to in the description of the Hachijô Islanders as well as
in that of the Loochooans as resembling those constructed by the
Ainos; yet [pg 343] these resemblances must not be taken as
indicating a community of origin, but simply as the result of
necessity. For travellers in Kamtchatka, and farther west, speak of
the same kind of store-houses; and farther south they may be seen
in Singapore and Java,—in fact, in every country town in New
England; and indeed all over the United States the same kind of
storehouse is seen. Probably all over the world a store-house on four
legs, even to the inverted box or pan on each leg, may be found.

Through the courtesy of Percival Lowell, Esq., I am enabled to see

advanced sheets of his work on Korea, entitled “The Land of the
Morning Calm;” and from this valuable work the author has
permitted me to gather many interesting facts concerning the
Korean dwellings. The houses are of one story; a flight of two or
three steps leads to a narrow piazza, or very wide sill, which
encircles the entire building. The apartment within is only limited by
the size of the building; in other words, there is only one room under
the roof. The better class of dwellings, however, consist of groups of
these buildings. The house is of wood, and rests upon a stone
foundation. This foundation consists of a series of connecting
chambers, or flues; and at one side is a large fireplace, or oven, in
which the fire is built. The products of combustion circulate through
this labyrinth of chambers, and find egress, not by a chimney, but by
an outlet on the opposite side. In this way the room above is
warmed. There are three different types of this oven-like foundation.
In the best type a single slab of stone is supported by a number of
stout stone pillars; upon this stone floor is spread a layer of earth,
and upon this earth is spread oil-paper like a carpet. In another
arrangement, ridges of earth and small stones run lengthwise from
front to back; on top of this the same arrangement is made of stone,
earth, and oil-paper. In the third type, representing a [pg 344] still
poorer class, the oven and flues are hollowed out of the earth alone.
Mr. Lowell remarks that the idea is a good one, if it were only
accompanied by proper ventilation. Unfortunately, he says, the room
above is no better than a box, in which the occupant is slowly
roasted. Another disadvantage is experienced in the impossibility of
warming a room at once. He says: “The room does not even begin
to get warm until you have passed through an agonizing interval of
expectancy. Then it takes what seems forever to reach a comfortable
temperature, passes this brief second of happiness before you have
had time to realize that it has attained it, and continues mounting to
unknown degrees in a truly alarming manner, beyond the possibility
of control.” This curious and ingenious method of warming houses is
said to have been introduced from China some one hundred and fifty
years ago.

A house of the highest order is simply a frame-work,—a roof

supported on eight or more posts according to the size of the
building; and this with a foundation represents the only fixed
structure. In summer it presents a skeleton-like appearance; in
winter, however, it appears solid and compact, as a series of folding-
doors,—a pair between each two posts,—closes it completely. These
are prettily latticed, open outward, and are fastened from within by
a hook and knob. By a curious arrangement these doors can be
removed from their hinges, the upper parts only remaining attached,
and fastened up by hooks to the ceiling. This kind of a house and
room is used as a banqueting hall and a room for general
entertainment. It may be compared to our drawing-room.

Dwelling-rooms are constructed on quite a different plan. Instead of

continuous doors, the sides are composed of permanent walls and
doors. The wall is of wood, except that in the poorer house it
consists of mud. Says Mr. Lowell: “In these buildings we have an
elaborate system of three-fold aperture [pg 345] closers,—a species
of three skins, only that they are for consecutive, not simultaneous,
use. The outer is the folding-door above mentioned; the other two
are a couple of pairs of sliding panels,—the survivors in Korea of the
once common sliding screens, such as are used to-day in Japan. One
of the pairs is covered with dark green paper, and is for night use;
the other is of the natural yellowish color of the oil-paper, and is
used by day. When not wanted, they slide back into grooves inside
the wall, whence they are pulled out again by ribbons fastened near
the middle of the outer edge. All screens of this sort, whether in
houses or palanquins, are provided, unlike the Japanese, with these
conveniences for tying the two halves of each pair together, and thus
enabling easier adjustment.” The house-lining within is oil-paper.
“Paper covers the ceiling, lines the wall, spreads the floor. As you sit
in your room your eye falls upon nothing but paper; and the very
light that enables you to see anything at all sifts in through the same
material.”

It will be seen by these brief extracts how dissimilar the Korean

house is to that of the Japanese. And this dissimilarity is fully
sustained by an examination of the photographs which Mr. Lowell
made in Korea, and which show among other things low stone-
walled houses with square openings for windows, closed by frames
covered with paper, the frames hung from above and opening
outside, and the roof tiled; also curious thatched roofs, in which the
slopes are uneven and rounding, and their ridges curiously knotted
or braided, differing in every respect from the many forms of
thatched roof in Japan.

The Chinese house, as I saw it in Shanghai and its suburbs, and at

Canton as well as up the river, shows differences from the Japanese
house quite as striking as those of the Korean house. Here one sees,
in the cities at least, solid [pg 346] brick-walled houses, with kitchen
range built into the wall, and chimney equally permanent; tiled-roof,
with tiled ridges; enclosed court-yard; floors of stone, upon which
the shoes are worn from the street; doorways, with doors on hinges;
window openings closed by swinging frames fitted with the
translucent shells of Placuna, or white paper, the latter usually in a
dilapidated condition; and for furniture they have tables, chairs,
bedsteads, drawers, babies' chairs, cradles, foot-stools, and thel like.
The farm-houses of China in those regions that I visited were equally
unlike similar houses in Japan.

From this superficial glance at the character of the house in the

outlying Islands of the Japanese Empire, as well as at the houses of
the neighboring countries, Korea and China, I think it will be
conceded that the Japanese house is typically a product of the
people, with just those features from abroad incorporated in it that
one might look for, considering the proximity to Japan of China and
Korea. When we remember that these three great civilizations of the
Mongoloid race approximate within the radius of a few hundred
miles, and that they have been in more or less intimate contact since
early historic times, we cannot wonder that the germs of Japanese
art and letters should have been adopted from the continent. In
precisely the same way our ancestors, the English, drew from their
continent the material for their language, art, music, architecture,
and many other important factors in their civilization; and if history
speaks truly, their refinement even in language and etiquette was
imported. But while Japan, like England, has modified and developed
the germs ingrafted from a greater and older civilization, it has ever
preserved the elasticity of youth, and seized upon the good things of
our civilization,—such as steam, electricity, and modern methods of
study and research,—and utilized them promptly. Far different is it
from the mother [pg 347] country, where the improvements and
methods of other nations get but tardy recognition.

It seems to give certain English writers peculiar delight to stigmatize

the Japanese as a nation of imitators and copyists. From the
contemptuous manner in which disparagements of this nature are
flung into the faces of the Japanese who are engaged in their heroic
work of establishing sound methods of government and education,
one would think that in England had originated the characters by
which the English people write, the paper upon which they print, the
figures by which they reckon, the compass by which they navigate,
the gunpowder by which they subjugate, the religion with which
they worship. Indeed, when one looks over the long list of countries
upon which England has drawn for the arts of music, painting,
sculpture, architecture, printing, engraving, and a host of other
things, it certainly comes with an ill-grace from natives of that
country to taunt the Japanese with being imitators.

It would be obviously absurd to suggest as a model for our own

houses such a structure as a Japanese house. Leaving out the fact
that it is not adapted to the rigor of our climate or to the habits of
our people, its fragile and delicate fittings if adopted by us, would be
reduced to a mass of kindlings in a week, by the rude knocks it
would receive; and as for exposing on our public thoroughfares the
delicate labyrinth of carvings often seen on panel and post in Japan,
the wide-spread vandalism of our country would render futile all
such attempts to civilize and refine. Fortunately, in that land which
we had in our former ignorance and prejudice regarded as
uncivilized, the malevolent form of the genus homo called “vandal” is
unknown.

Believing that the Japanese show infinitely greater refinement in

their methods of house-adornment than we do, and convinced that
their tastes are normally artistic, I have [pg 348] endeavored to
emphasize my convictions by holding up in contrast our usual
methods of house-furnishing and outside embellishments. By so
doing I do not mean to imply that we do not have in America
interiors that show the most perfect refinement and taste; or that in
Japan, on the other hand, interiors may not be found in which good
taste is wanting.

I do not expect to do much good in thus pointing out what I believe

to be better methods, resting on more refined standards. There are
some, I am sure, who will approve; but the throng—who are won by
tawdry glint and tinsel; who make possible, by admiration and
purchase, the horrors of much that is made for house-furnishing and
adornment—will, with characteristic obtuseness, call all else but
themselves and their own ways heathen and barbarous.

GLOSSARY.
[pg 349] [pg 350] [pg 351]
In the following list of Japanese words used in this work an
opportunity is given to correct a number of mistakes which crept
into, or rather walked boldly into, the text. The author lays no claim
to a knowledge of the Japanese language beyond what any
foreigner might naturally acquire in being thrown among the people
for some time. As far as possible he has followed Hepburn's
Japanese Dictionary for orthography and definition, and Brunton's
Map of Japan for geographical names. Brunton's map, as well as that
published by Rein, spells Settsu with one t. For the sake of
uniformity I have followed this spelling in the text, though it is
contrary to the best authorities. It may be added that Oshiu and
Totomi should be printed with a long accent over each o.

The words Samurai, Daimio, Kioto, Tokio, and several others, are
now so commonly seen in the periodical literature of our country
that this form of spelling for these words has been retained. For
rules concerning the pronunciation of Japanese words the reader is
referred to the Introduction in Hepburn's Dictionary.

Agari- The floor for standing upon in coming out of the

ba bath.
Age-
A platform that can be raised or lowered.
yen
Rain-door. The outside sliding doors by which the
Amado
house is closed at night.
Andon A lamp.
A colloquial name for a porcelain urinal, from its
Asagao
resemblance to the flower of the morning-glory.

Benjo Privy. Place for business.

Biwa A lute with four strings.
Biyo-bu A folding screen.