1 The
main entrance to traditional vernacular houses *minka
民家, the kitchen buildings: *daidokoro
台所 of upper class residences, the *kuri
庫裡 of temples, and a range of other ancillary structures which provided
access to the earth-floored area *doma
土間. Reflecting the doma's importance as a work area, the entrance
was usually one bay wide so that agricultural produce, goods, and supplies
could be carried easily in and out of the structure. It was closed with
an *oodo 大戸, lit. 'great door',
the size and solidity of which were believed to have given the entrance
its name. The oodoguchi was sometimes located in the gable end of
the building or in the side parallel to the ridge of the roof. In the former
case, the building is said to be *tsumairi
妻入り, and in the latter case *hirairi
平入り. In cases where the earth-floored area had more than one entrance, the
most prominent one was referred to as the oodoguchi. In most Edo period
minka, the oodoguchi was the entrance generally used by household
members, although by the latter half of the Edo period the largest minka
had aquired an entrance hall *genkan
玄関, for the use of exalted guests and sometimes an intermediate entrance
*uchigenkan 内玄関
as well. The architectural treatment of the great door served to emphasize
its symbolic significance, with deliberately oversized door posts and lintel
*magusa まぐさ. A common
motif found in old houses in the Kansai 関西 region from the end of the16c was
the use of a deep, slightly curved lintel with decoratively upswept ends,
recalling the style of some *torii
鳥居 at the entrance of shrine precincts. The oodoguchi is also referred
to as to-no-guchi 戸の口 in farmhouses in Iwate, Yamagata, Kyoto and
Tottori prefectures.
2 In traditional vernacular houses *minka
民家, in the Tango 丹後 area of Kyoto prefecture, the area under the pent roof
*hisashi 廂, at the
front of the house, near the main doma entrance.
3 In minka in Akita prefecture, oodoguchi refers
to the area behind the wall panel *sodekabe
袖壁, that flanks the main doma entrance. The great door *oodo
大戸, a one-way sliding door *katabikido
片引き戸, slides into this area. |
