| machiya |
A medieval Japanese house is a long wooden home with a narrow street front view, extending far into the city block and usually containing one or more small courtyards or gardens. A machiya usually is made up of dirt walls and baked tile roofs, and could be one to three stories high.
| store front |
Usually on the front of the house is a small shop space. there would be sliding and folding blinds to show merchandise for sale. Behind the shop, the rest of the central building was divided into an unfloored dirt maintenance space consisting of the kitchen and also storehouses. A chimney above the kitchen carried smoke and heat away and as a skylight, brightening the kitchen. There was also the living area, made of separated rooms with elevated wood floors and tatami mats. Average housing plots were only 5.4 to 6 meters wide, but about 20 meters deep.
The largest room, located in the back of the central building looks out over the garden which divides the central building from the store front. This room was also used as a entrance room for important company. Sliding doors were very versatile; they were able to be removed entirely to change the amount, area, and structure of rooms to address any occasion. The rest of the building could be grouped to create smaller rooms including an entry hall and a central room.
| versatile sliding doors make up this room |
During the event Gion Matsuri rooms are moved a lot. This is when families exhibit their family keepsakes. They might includ byobu (folding screen), paintings and other artworks. The machiya also provides space for costumes, decorations, portable shrines, floats, and other things needed for the festival. there would also be space for observers to speculate along the parade route.
 |
| sliding doors also known as shoji |
Japan could be exceptionally cold in winter, and especially hot in the summer. Several layers of sliding doors were used to balance the climate indoors. Closing all the screens in the winter allowed some protection from the cold. Opening them all in the summer gave some ease from the heat and humidity. People would also use different types of screens which would be changed with the seasons. Woven bamboo screens used in summer allowed air to flow through, but helped to block the sun. The open air garden courtyards assisted in air circulation and brought light into the house.
There were usually two doors in front of the machiya. A big door would be used to bring in stock for the store. A smaller one would be used for people walking in and out. Different store fronts had different latticework to represent their store. A rice shop for example would have a rice store designed latticework for their window.
