ama　天
KEY WORD :　architecture / folk dwellings
　
1　A rack with an open lattice frame of timber or bamboo, suspended from the main crossbeams *hari 梁, of a vernacular residence *minka 民家. Frequently found in farmhouses nouka 農家, over the open hearth *irori 囲炉裏. The ama was used mainly for drying and smoking food, but also served to protect the ceiling or the underside of the roof from sparks flying up from the hearth. Also referred to as hiama 火天, hidana 火棚, hidaka 火高, or amada あまだ.

Old Yoshizane 吉真 house
Hida minzokumura Hida no sato　飛騨民俗村 飛騨の里 (Gifu)

2　Lofts or attics in the roofspace of farmhouses in central Honshuu 本州 (mainly Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, northern Gifu, and Aichi prefectures). In other regions, the attics were referred to as *zushi 厨子 or *tsushi nikai 厨子二階. Used mainly for sericulture. In parts of northern Gifu and Toyama prefectures, where the houses with a large principal rafter *gasshou-zukuri 合掌造, may have as many as three storeys of lofts, the upper attics were referred to as sora-ama 空天 and sangaiama 三階天.

3　The roofspace in farmhouses in some parts of Yamaguchi prefecture.

4　The loftspace in an outhouse on farmsteads in Shimane prefecture. 　
　
　

　
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