shinjo　寝所

KEY WORD :　architecture / general terms

An alternative term for *nema 寝間. Also called nedokoro, nedoko. A sleeping room. Already in use in the Ancient period, shinjo, often with the honorific go 御 prefixed to it, was used as the a sleeping chamber of members of the upper classes, including daimyou 大名. In a medieval context, this consisted of an enclosed room with a *choudaigamae 帳台構え type entry, but by the Edo period, it had evolved into a more open *shoin 書院 style reception room *zashiki 座敷 , which might be part of larger building or a freestanding structure. In vernacular houses *minka 民家 of the Edo period, for instance in Ibaraki prefecture, it also designated a sleeping room. See *nando 納戸, *heya 部屋 and *choudai 帳台. Since minka room names are seldom written with Chinese characters it is difficult to be certain, but the term *nedoko 寝床, was probably a colloquial abbreviation of nedokoro (compare daidoko as a colloquial form of *daidokoro 台所, and *idoko 居所).

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