Kyo-Machiya: the Eel's Bed

Exploring Kyo-Machiya, the Eel's Bed

Kyo-Machiya houses have a depth that cannot be imagined from their narrow frontage. It is filled with wisdom and ingenuity to distinguish between "hare and ke," public and private, and to be in touch with nature, which allows the residents to live in harmony with people around them and nature.

Kyo-Machiya Floor Plan

The basic layout of a Kyo-Machiya is based on the rule of contiguity with the neighboring buildings and gardens, and connects the work area, the kitchen, and the tatami room, where guests are welcomed, with a "passage garden" leading from the front street to the garden in the back. Although there are some variations in this floor plan depending on the scale of the building, it is roughly the same.

 Variations in floor plans
The floor plan of a Kyo-Machiya can be categorized according to the arrangement of the rooms, such as three rooms in a row, four rooms in a row, four rooms in two rows, and six rooms in two rows. In the Nishijin district in Kyoto, there is a row of weavers' machiya houses, which have an earthen floor with a vaulted ceiling at the back of the house as a work space for looms. 

Cross-sectional view of the weaver's house