Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
These shrines are maintained by the local community, with each person contributing a
regular small sum of money. The person responsible for the shrine changes on a yearly
basis, but everyone in the area will leave offerings for Jizō, usually something they them-
selves have excess of, such as fruit, chocolate or sake.
MACHIYA: KYOTO'S TRADITIONAL TOWNHOUSE
One of the city's most notable architectural features are its
machiya,
long and narrow wooden row houses that
functioned as both homes and workplaces. The shop area was located in the front of the house, while the rooms
lined up behind it formed the family's private living quarters. Nicknamed
'unagi no nedoko'
(eel bedrooms), the
machiya
's elongated shape came about because homes were once taxed according to the amount of their street
frontage.
A
machiya
is a self-contained world, complete with private well, store house, Buddhist altar, clay ovens out-
fitted with huge iron rice cauldrons, shrines for the hearth god and other deities, and interior mini-gardens.
Although well suited to Kyoto's humid, mildew-prone summers, a wooden
machiya
has a limited lifespan of
about 50 years. Thus, as the cost of traditional materials and workmanship rose, and as people's desire for a
more Western-style lifestyle increased, fewer and fewer people felt the urge to rebuild the old family home, as
had been the custom in the past. Those considerations, plus the city's high inheritance tax, convinced many
owners to tear down their
machiya,
build a seven-story apartment building, occupy the ground floor, and live off
the rent of their tenants.
The result is that Kyoto's urban landscape - once a harmonious sea of clay-tiled two-storey wooden town-
houses - is now a jumble of ferro-concrete offices and apartment buildings.
Ironically, however,
machiya
are making a comeback. After their numbers have drastically declined, the old
townhouses have began to acquire an almost exotic appeal. Astute developers began to convert them into res-
taurants, clothing boutiques and even hair salons. Today such shops are a major draw for the city's tourist trade,
and not only foreign visitors - the Japanese themselves (especially Tokyoites) love their old-fashioned charm.
