Traditional Japanese Houses | Nippon.com
Take Your Shoes Off Minka , or traditional Japanese houses , are characterized by tatami mat flooring , sliding doors, and wooden engawa verandas. Another aspect that persists even in Western-style homes in Japan is the genkan , an entrance hall where people remove footwear . The flooring for the house proper is raised a little off the ground to prevent dampness from entering and to keep the living area from flooding in the case of heavy rain. The lower level is known as the tataki , and was traditionally made of packed earth, although concrete is common today. After removal, shoes are put in the getabako —a cabinet that derives its name from geta, or wooden clogs, that Japanese people once commonly wore. A genkan entrance hall with a getabako (left) for shoes and a tataki (foreground). Heavy rain can damage roofs, so outside the entrance, amadoi gutters carry rainfall off the eaves and down the decorative kusaridoi , or “rain chain.” Rainwater travels along the gutter and down ...