At one time, the Russian historian Klyuchevsky showed that differences in the culture of different peoples are associated, first of all, with geography: we, the Russians, came out of the rye field, but the Japanese - from the rice field. However, in order to know the very soul of the people, one must know not only what he eats, but also in what houses he lives.
The architecture of a Japanese house is directly related to the climate, in fact, as elsewhere, and it cannot be otherwise. In the southern regions of Japan, it is very humid and hot in summer, so it simply did not make sense to build complex and fanciful buildings for housing here, and since ancient times it was not honored. Many forests and mountain rivers, picturesque landscapes that surrounded the Japanese forced them to live in harmony with nature and, accordingly, build houses so that they would not violate this very harmony. And since earthquakes and typhoons often occur in Japan, they were required to be built so that in case of destruction they could not only be easily repaired, but also not perish under their debris. Therefore, a traditional Japanese hanka house is ideally four pillars covered with a peaked cane roof, providing protection from the rain and a blessed coolness. The floor was raised above the ground to keep it from being flooded by rainwater during the rainy season, with a terrace usually surrounding the entire house at floor level. Its pillars gave the frame of the house additional strength and at the same time did not obscure anything around. But the walls in such a house were either removable or sliding. These were panels of thin strips, or even shingles of shingles, sealed with oiled paper. If necessary, such walls could be easily moved apart and removed, and the inhabitants of the house could, without leaving their shelter, admire nature.
True, in such a house it was rather cold in winter, since there were no stoves in it. But the Japanese came up with the idea to keep warm at night with thick down jackets - futons and ceramic heating pads - yutampo, invented in China and brought to Japan in the 15th-16th centuries. In addition, the Japanese were warmed by hot water in a wooden furo barrel. The water in the furo was very hot, and having warmed up well, the Japanese withstood the cold of their homes for a long time. For bathing, either separate houses or special rooms with a slatted floor were used, through which heated air passed from the firebox located below. Another house, which the Japanese tried to have on their site whenever possible, was intended for a tea ceremony. It was located in the most picturesque place of the garden, among the trees and always near the water and old mossy stones, which were often specially bought to decorate the garden or … accepted as a gift!
Of course, not all Japanese had such houses in the past, because in order to place all these buildings at least at a small distance from each other, not a small piece of land was required at all. In the XVII-XIX centuries. this could be the estate of a not too rich, but not the poorest samurai, or, on the contrary, a wealthy merchant, sake producer or brothel keeper. In such a manor, in addition to the owner himself, his wife and children, the servants of the lord and the lady's maids, samurai guards, a cook (and maybe even more than one), a groom, a gardener, a carpenter, two gatekeepers, as well as their wives and children, usually lived. … The entire territory of the estate was surrounded by a high and solid fence. And everyone who left it received a special tag, which was given up upon returning. Thus, it was always possible to establish exactly which of the household members was absent and why, and to raise the alarm in a timely manner.
Let's visit one of these samurai estates, which could belong to a hatamoto - a "standard bearer", a samurai - a vassal of a daimyo or the shogun himself, whose "salary" could be 200 koku of rice per year (one koku was equal in weight to 150 kg). For these 200 koku annual income, the owner of such a manor, according to the order of 1649, was obliged to send one equestrian warrior in armor, one ashigaru spearman and three people from commoners as servants to the war. Thus, the detachment of the owner of the estate shown in our drawing could number at least six people, including the hatamoto himself. Of course, there were estates and poorer and richer. In any case, on the territory of such an estate, there must have been a manor house covered with bamboo tiles, or even rice straw or reeds - there was nothing wrong with using these materials, as well as a house for servants. A barn, a poultry house, a stable - all these office premises could be combined under one roof, but this building itself was only slightly more durable than residential buildings, well, except that its walls could be adobe. Another thing is the kitchen, the walls of which could sometimes be made of stone for the sake of safety from fire. In Japan, earthquakes are frequent, as a result of which there have been large fires in the past, so this precaution was not superfluous.
In front of the manor house, at least a small garden with a swimming pool had to be located, and around there was a planting or just a few boulders and evenly scattered gravel. A vegetable garden was a must for the estate, because it supplied greens to the table of both the master and his servants. They tried not only to place the bath and tea houses closer to the water, but also, if possible, arrange them so that they look older than they really are, especially the tea ceremony house, because everything old in Japan at that time was much appreciated. expensive. In large houses, latrines could be located even in the house itself, as well as the bathroom. However, in small estates, this would be considered a clear excess and a sign of effeminacy. Usually they were placed on poles and no hole was dug under them to make it easier to collect feces. Yes, because of the lack of sufficient quantities of cattle and horses in 17th century Japan, human excrement was carefully collected, sold and … used in rice fields as fertilizer. Naturally, the servants had their own separate toilet, and the master and his family - theirs. However, in terms of design, they practically did not differ in anything. Not only was the fence high, it had nowhere to come into contact with buildings - a rule that has been strictly observed in Japan for centuries.
Well, why the wealthy Japanese needed such (and many other precautions) will become clear if we think about the fact that the success of one usually causes the envy of another, and this is typical for all peoples, and not only for the Japanese or our compatriots living in Russia. Another thing is that if in Russia a high fence and angry dogs usually protected from unwanted visitors, then in Japan, the country of secret hired spies and shinobi killers, or, if quite in Japanese, then shinobi-no-mono (better known among us called ninja) fences did not save them. A wealthy owner of such a house had to be constantly on the alert, because an envious neighbor or a vassal who was dissatisfied with him could send a ninja against him, not to mention the fact that ordinary robbers could attack his house to rob him.
We know that the British liked to say “my home is my castle”, and one could believe it when they saw a typical English house - stone walls, barred windows, a thick oak door. But how could a Japanese house with its thatched roof and paper walls be a fortress? It turns out that even under these circumstances, the Japanese house could become not only a fortress, but also a real weapon against anyone who dared to attack it.
Let's start with the fact that in the house of a samurai, let alone an influential prince, so-called "nightingale floors" were necessarily arranged in the corridors. Thoroughly rubbed and looking very sturdy, they were designed to squeak even under the lightest steps. Therefore, it was impossible neither to get close to the master's room, nor even to simply eavesdrop behind a thin paper wall!
The main reception hall was usually well guarded. Behind a screen in the wall there was a secret door to the next room, from where the guard could see everything that was happening in the hall, and in which case he could come to his master to help. The ceiling was deliberately not very high so that it would be inconvenient for the attacker to swing a traditional sword. One of the boards next to the owner's seat was lifted by a special spring, and a sword was hidden in the recess under it. It was customary to leave your swords at the entrance to the room on a special stand, so the unarmed-looking owner had a clear advantage over the guest, not to mention the fact that in the cache there could be not only a sword, but also a small already loaded daikyu crossbow, and later and a European-made flintlock pistol.
If there were many enemies, then the owner of the house had several ways to disappear so that they would not find him. Heavy external sliding doors usually led into the corridor inside the premises, and the corridor itself led to a suite of rooms separated by paper screens. However, at the end of the corridor, where a false door was arranged in the wall (and where households were naturally forbidden to enter!), There was a trap hatch, falling through which the intruder fell on the metal points sticking up. And in the same place, under the floor of the corridor, a secret access was made into the courtyard, where, among the decorative stones and thickets, clever hiding places were prepared in advance for the owners of the house.
However, in this house itself it was also possible to safely hide, and it was sometimes completely impossible to understand where a person disappeared from this or that room. For example, a descending staircase to the attic could be arranged in the ceiling of the room. It was made according to the principle of a children's swing, so it was enough to pull on a short cord hanging from the ceiling, and it immediately fell. The lace from the hole, having risen, was pulled, after which the ladder fell into place, so tightly that it was almost impossible to guess that there was not a simple ceiling, but something else. Special hatches leading to the attic were also used, through which rope ladders descended from above. A person who found himself in such a room and knew about its secret, again could pull on a cord known only to him, after which a hatch in the ceiling opened, and a staircase hung from there.
In the plastered walls of the upper floor there were slots-loopholes for shooting, and directly in its very room there could be a whole arsenal! Sometimes, especially when it came to the protection of a particularly noble or very wealthy gentleman, there was a special observation room right above the reception hall, from where, through a thin curtain of braided horsehair, special guards watched the guests of their master and in case of unforeseen circumstances they could to help him.
Various other precautions were not superfluous. For example, the Japanese daimyo (prince) of the island of Hirado Matsuura Shigenobu always had a club at hand in the bathroom. The famous commander Takeda Shingen had a habit of sleeping in a room with two exits, and advised not to part with a dagger, even when alone with his wife!
It is known that the legendary ninja Ishikawa Goemon almost managed to poison the unifier of Japan, Oda Nabunaga, when he, hiding on the ceiling of his bedroom, sent a thin stream of poison through a tube into the sleeping man's half-open mouth, so that after that he kept it closed even in a dream! So the samurai's house sometimes resembled not so much a dwelling as a real box with a secret, and it's no wonder, because the price of carelessness could be the certain death of the owner of such a manor from the hands of a ninja!
