A comparative study on houses and villages in mountain villages and fishing villages according to the survey in Nakanomata, Joetsu city and Futagamijima, Ehime pref. (2)

We conducted a consecutive survey following 1987 on villages and private houses in Nakanomata and its neiboring Nohdani in Joetsu City and Futagamijima in Ehime prefecture. The aim of the study is to further analyze the space configuration of villages and features of houses in those areas. We also made close study on the living customs. The houses in the village of Nakanomata scatter along either side of River Nakanomata taking some distance from each other within 900 m. from north to south. The total number of houses is 80. Most of the houses are of one main building (Omoya) type. The omoya functions as both living space and working space. The size of the omoya is 43 tsubo (about 142 square moters) on the average. Most of the houses have almost the same layout: Chanoma of 9 tsubo (about 30 square meters) is the center of the house, with Zashiki, which is a guest room, in the upper part, Nema, a bed room, behind Zashiki, Nakanoma, back in the lower part and Doma, which is the carthon floor, in the lower part of the house. The houses in the village of Futagamijima stand close together along the seaside with the port at the center. The number of houses in Futagamijima is about 150 and they are located within the east-west range of 500 m. Private houses are mostly consisted of some small unit buildings: omoya, heya (a room), naya (a barn), lavatory and a bathroom. It can be said that all functions are separated in respective unit buildings. The average size of omoya is 21 tsubo (about 70 square meters), and it is smaller compared with that of Nakanomata. Omoya has typical rooms: one is “omote 6 jo, front 10 square meters” and the other “4 jo han kudari, 7.4 square meters' back”. All the units are located surrounding the Hinora, which is a court. This layout can be described as a court system. The private houses in Nohdani, a neiboring village of Nakanomata, are very similar to those in Nakanomata in their styles. The study was made on the procedure of construction of a private house in Nohdani through documentation related to construction. A private house is constructed with the aid of almost all the families in the village. The works which require much assistance are conducted during the period from February (old calendar) when all the snow has melted to April (old calendar) before the busy season for farming. In Shimamichi of Nohdani, they have “Kaya Koh”, which is a cogon union. They all bring in 2 of cogon and 40 sen (0.4 yen) to the union every year. The union is so managed that the taker of cogon may be decided through discussion and that the union may be dissolved when every member takes his share. One finding in the survey of Futagamijima is the fact that the area for supply of drinking water from one common well almost corresponds to shoh-aza, a small section.