Gassho Farmhouses - Japan

Japan is such an old country - its recorded history dwarfs North America's.  This makes it possible to find some modern-day throwbacks to an earlier time.

Japan has also been a warring nation, so this has reduced the number of un-destroyed ancient architectural examples remaining in the country.

Finally, after Japan's Edo period, the country was forcibly opened to Western trade and so the West's influence and globalization in general has incrementally killed a lot of Japanese cultural artifacts.

All told though, history seems to remain in the forefront for many Japanese.

Cool caterpillar we encountered on the walk into the village

Among the relics that can still be experienced today are traditional Japanese farmhouses called Gassho (pronounced gas-sho).

I was fascinated by their clever design, so I wanted to take a few minutes to shed a little light on this aspect of Japanese culture.

A Gassho House

First - the countryside... farming in Japan seems a bit less industrial in the mountains.

Rice, rice and more rice!

We passed right by Kobe town - famous for its beef production - and in our entire drive through Japanese countryside, we never, not even once, saw cattle in farm fields.  Leading us to ask the famous question: "where's the beef?"

The farmhouses are made without nail or screw - they are bound with rice stalk ropes and main beams are mortise and tenoned with wedges - truly fascinating woodwork.  I'll get into this a bit later - first let's enjoy a little interior decor, Edo-style!

Interior

Living Room

Spartan and stylish - this is the fully restored living room of a Gassho farmhouse that belonged to a relatively well-off family.

A prayer closet - Buddhism in Japan

Hallways built along the outside walls of the home preserve heat in the true interior

Rice buckets for honoured guests and big parties

The literal piece-de-resistance is the main foyer where, embedded in the tatami mat floor, there is an open-air fireplace used for cooking and heating!  Open air, you say?  "Doesn't it get smoky inside?". 

Fair question!  And the answer is yes!  but... the roof is thatched, so it is porous enough to allow smoke to vent due to rising heat but not porous enough to let rain water in!  The roofs in this neighbourhood literally emit a thin waft of smoke all day - truly unusual!  Inside, the house is a bit smoky, but it's built 3 stories high to minimize this on the lower levels where living is done - a nice compromise.

You might be asking yourself - what's up on the 2nd and 3rd floors... Sericulture, of course!  This is the farming of silk worms to produce silk fibers for the making of clothing.

2nd floor silk worm farms

Cocoon cultivation

Rotating the cocoons for optimal output

Rotation device

Farming machinery

Looms, etc.

The 3rd floor attic - smoky and cold

Construction

Mortise and Tenon joinery (with new world electrical wires)

Ropes and notch joinery

Construction 101

From the outside

Gassho houses are a protected UNESCO world heritage cultural artifact and the entire communities of Shirikawa-go and Gokayama are protected UNESCO sites.