As charming as irori are, more modern home heating appliances must have been very welcomed in snowy northern winter regions. It’s hard to imagine how cold it must have been away from the irori! I sit here comfortably reading this and can only imagine the piercing cold suffered by poor families with nothing but layers of rags stitched together into yogi for keeping warm while sleeping on long cold winter nights. The celebration of any sign of spring was well earned!
The image of the grilling fish took me right back to this past June where we stumbled into the opening weekend of ayu season in Annaka where we were staying so I could participate in a sericulture workshop. It was summer though and no worries about keeping warm.
Indeed. When I visited the Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum it became so clear how much colder these old houses were than the coldest old houses today. They were merely shelters against the rain, wind and snow, but otherwise so full of openings there is no difference between the in and outside.
The floor of the minka used for the floor plan consists of bamboo, not wood! The air blows right through from outside. Probably great in summer, but no fun in winter. I am very glad I live today!
But there are aspects of these old houses that we can combine with our modern technology and architecture. It was not all bad. And they look so incredibly beautiful in the landscape. They fit in like a mushroom, a bush, or a tree. They are natural entities with character.
As charming as irori are, more modern home heating appliances must have been very welcomed in snowy northern winter regions. It’s hard to imagine how cold it must have been away from the irori! I sit here comfortably reading this and can only imagine the piercing cold suffered by poor families with nothing but layers of rags stitched together into yogi for keeping warm while sleeping on long cold winter nights. The celebration of any sign of spring was well earned!
The image of the grilling fish took me right back to this past June where we stumbled into the opening weekend of ayu season in Annaka where we were staying so I could participate in a sericulture workshop. It was summer though and no worries about keeping warm.
Indeed. When I visited the Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum it became so clear how much colder these old houses were than the coldest old houses today. They were merely shelters against the rain, wind and snow, but otherwise so full of openings there is no difference between the in and outside.
The floor of the minka used for the floor plan consists of bamboo, not wood! The air blows right through from outside. Probably great in summer, but no fun in winter. I am very glad I live today!
But there are aspects of these old houses that we can combine with our modern technology and architecture. It was not all bad. And they look so incredibly beautiful in the landscape. They fit in like a mushroom, a bush, or a tree. They are natural entities with character.