Why Japan, like its culture, has always been a mysterious and alluring country for Europeans, deserving close attention. The space of the inhabitants of the islands is quite limited, and over many years they have adapted to planning their homes in a special way.

They learned to plan economically and clearly, rationally using all available space. What features do they have? japanese houses, and what distinguishes and characterizes this unusual style for us? A Japanese residential house is called “minka”, which literally means “house of people” in Japanese. But there is another one in the country traditional type home intended for ritual activities. It's called a pagoda.

A huge part of the Japanese used to live in modest wooden houses. Some of them have been perfectly preserved to this day. Of course, for today's residents they are no longer relevant. Most of them live in small private cottages or in modern multi-apartment high-rise buildings.

What did a traditional minka look like and what did it consist of?

1. The base of the house, or its skeleton, was made of wood.
2. The outside walls were lined with bamboo and plastered.
3. Instead of walls inside the building, special sliding screens were used.
4. Tatami mats and musiro mats were used for making.

Depending on the region, the design of buildings could change, some things were improved over time.

But the main thing remained the same - it was inexpensive and as simple housing as possible, capable of protecting the family from bad weather.

Richer people, merchants and wealthy peasants, could use more expensive materials - fired tiles, quality wood, durable stone.

Today, Japanese minka is rather a tradition that is of great interest to many visitors.

Features of a traditional Japanese house

Signs of a traditional Japanese home

Minimalism– one of the main signs of a house in which absolutely everything is thought out, functional and rational.

• There is nothing superfluous here; conciseness and simplicity are valued.
• Here, by definition, chaos, chaos, and accumulation of unnecessary things are impossible.
• You will not find in such a home or closet cluttered with unfashionable clothes, broken equipment, skis and old bicycles.
• Minimalism is present in everything, both in the design of the house outside and in the last corner inside.

Functionality

• In a typical Japanese home, there cannot be any unusable space by definition.
• Every tiny area of ​​the area is carefully thought out.
• In this country, most homes are traditionally small in size, so homeowners have to make the most of all available square footage.
• Only necessary Appliances, functional: residents try to remove and close all things and objects so that nothing is in sight, does not interfere or disturb the overall style of the home.

Minimum furniture

Screen doors

• It is not so often possible to see our traditional ones in a Japanese home.
• Typically, screens are used in such houses, sliding doors and lungs.
• The basic principles that the islanders try to adhere to are convenience and comfort, respect for space and as little noise as possible.

There are no strong walls

• Typical house made in Japanese style, does not have solid and strong.
• It is compact and quite lightweight.
• Its walls are thin and have small walls.
• Typical Vacation home usually a simple quadrilateral.
• The role of the internal walls is played by special movable partitions. They can be swapped at will, decorating the home in different ways.
• As internal partitions The Japanese use high-quality plastic or frosted tempered glass for their homes.
• In the old days, special screens were made from processed rice paper, which was then decorated with fancy patterns.
• It is precisely the lack of fundamental stationary partitions inside the house makes such a home dynamic and mobile, and its interior alive and changing.
• The design of the room can always be changed according to the mood, the number of inhabitants or the season.
• You can play up your living space by making rooms smaller or larger.

Transformable house and other quirks

• A Japanese house is a kind of transformer, which its inhabitants can easily adapt to their own needs.
• The roofs of Japanese houses traditionally have a very slight slope. Thanks to this, the structure looks wide and rather squat.
• The entire interior space of such a home is as open as possible. It is unlikely that you will find many small rooms, nooks and tiny storage rooms there. Even in small house There is always a lot of free space.
• The walls of Japanese-style houses are usually decorated with paintings. This could be a blooming branch of Japanese cherry in an elegant dark frame, which should have rectangular shape. Local design does not welcome flashy and pretentious frames with various curls.

Famous feng shui

• Feng Shui symbols are usually used to decorate a Japanese home, including various amulets and exquisite figurines.
• But all the decor is used in small quantities - local design is intolerant of excesses.
• There must certainly be living plants in the house, especially for a wooden one-story building.
• This can be an elegant bonsai in emphatically simple but sophisticated pots. Often in a home here you can see a miniature plum or pine tree, differing from the real one only in size.

Niches and partitions

• A common feature of Japanese houses is small wall niches.
• Traditionally, carefully selected items that do not fall out are placed in them. general style objects and little things.
• Very often, original stained glass is used here to decorate various objects and partitions.

Textiles and light

• Textiles in Japanese interiors are used to the bare minimum.
• Fabric curtains often replace comfortable bamboo blinds.
• You will also rarely find expensive bedspreads and carpets here.
• Stylish comfortable mats have been completely replaced, beds are made thick fabric calm tones without bright patterns.
• The islanders don't like dead White light modern lamps: they can use it at work or in the office.
• For home comfort they prefer soft, warm, warming tones.

Special Akari lamps were created for warming comfort. Perhaps such a device can be found in every Japanese country house.

Materials for houses using Japanese technology

Local residents prefer natural materials, both for the construction of the buildings themselves and for their decoration.

What materials do the Japanese love more than others??

Tree

Stone

• Stone is also often used to build houses.
• In the Land of the Rising Sun, a unique philosophy of stone is very popular. According to it, minerals are like the highest creations of omnipotent nature.
• The stone is hard, indestructible, silent and independent.

The stone is virtually invulnerable, and has many other qualities beyond the control of humans. Therefore, it is actively used for finishing with outside home, and in interior design.

Own stone house out of town, with wooden elements– the dream of every local resident.

Other materials

Other materials are also active in the architecture and design of traditional houses:

• rattan,
• sisal,
• jute,
• straw and so on.

These materials are used to make rugs, mats, window curtains and other textiles. Such products are much nicer than heavy ones dusty curtains. Japanese analogues do not accumulate dust, they are perfectly cleaned and washed with the simplest means.

Japanese home decoration: colors used

What color combinations are more typical for decorating the inside and outside of traditional Japanese homes?

• The fundamental principle when choosing a color is its naturalness.
• The main thing in the interior here is natural shades.
• It is unlikely that you will find avant-garde acid or neon tones or flashy color combinations here.
• Traditional Japanese interior in the usual style, he tends more towards calm and classic color combinations.
• Colors are very relevant natural materials– sand, wood, stone, etc.

Being surrounded by natural colors promotes relaxation, calms and calms.

Black is also often used. Often very dark shades are used in design different colors: gray, brown, red.

Not alien to the inhabitants of the islands and gentle pastel colors– milky white, beige, cream. A soft reddish brown is often used. The design of the home looks great, in which the colors are combined elegantly and contrastingly. There they decorate both the outside of the house and...

Even those who have never been to Japan in their life strive to at least somehow touch its culture, history and customs. Some people are planting a rock garden on their property, and some are even implementing a Japanese-style house project on their property. Although this is quite difficult, because the main features of such structures are minimalism and originality.

Traditional Japanese house

This structure is mainly a combination of functions that are expressed in minimalist decor. In this case, the external appearance and interior of the buildings have a fairly clear and at the same time calm, measured and restrained structure. Such a house looks expressive in a specially selected or created environment.

Despite the fact that Japanese private houses are always restrained and original, they are more functional than houses of some other trends and styles. After all, the interior design here is selected in accordance with the requirements of comfort, coziness and practicality.

If we talk about how a Japanese house is structured, then a separate feature is noted here.

It consists in using perfect color combinations and at the same time in a condensed form:

• The color scheme in the interior contains, as a rule, lighter, but very beautiful shades of color in nature.
• In addition, black color also occurs here.
• The combination of cream, milky, white, beige and black colors in the interior and facade looks great.

Rich merchants and moneylenders aged 16-17 showed loyalty to minimalism in the regeneration of the national spirit and the desire to decorate the interior. Largely thanks to this, that same ethnic Japanese style is formed.

Japanese house interior

As already mentioned, Japanese style does not tolerate excesses. Thanks to the use of a minimum set of interior elements, the equipment of the premises allows you to install only the most necessary furniture.

Features and Specifications:

• You need to focus solely on inner world and the desire to isolate yourself from external noise and bustle.
• After all the main objective human existence - to be able to appreciate the true essence of things. These features, in accordance with which Japanese philosophy took shape, were reflected precisely in the organization internal space Japanese homes.
• In a Japanese house it is also almost impossible to find swinging doors, instead sliding panels are used in the house. This also saves space inside the house.

What's in Japan wooden house It is difficult to meet, due to 2 reasons.

• Firstly, this is explained by the climatic and geological characteristics of the islands. After all, this is a seismically active area with climate variability. In difficult conditions for survival, the ability to adapt to nature is very important.

But at the same time, this reason also influences another trend. In the most dangerous areas, where tsunamis and earthquakes occur much more often, on the contrary, they build exclusively wooden houses. They provide mobility, which means that after an earthquake, destroyed buildings can be easily restored or a house that has not yet been destroyed can be moved to a new location.

• Another reason that some people do not use wood in building houses is due to the so-called “cult of stone.” Enough a large number of Japanese residents prefer to build stone houses. After all, according to their theory, stone, and not man, is the highest creation in the world.

Even in the gardens you can find small Japanese houses called pagodas. These are unique monasteries that are present in every courtyard and on the territory of almost every private plot.

They can be: symbolic, small or huge. It is the pagoda, and not the house, in the Japanese style that is the central element of the architectural ensemble. The Japanese house itself has the name “minka”, which Japanese language translated as "house of people".

Traditional Japanese house: design instructions

Such a structure is characterized by the absence of reliable, strong walls. The surrounding landscape is thus a continuation of the interior space of the premises. For those who see traditional Japanese houses“minki”, one gets the impression that the walls were created solely to support the roofs of Japanese houses.

And this is really so, because there are no walls as such here. These are ordinary sliding panels in the house , which can not only be moved and moved apart, but also removed completely. Thus, it becomes possible to adjust the dimensions of the rooms and combine them.

There are no windows in such buildings either. And the gaps between the posts and beams are filled with wooden panels, which can also be moved apart or removed as needed.

The roofs of Japanese houses are covered with thatch or shingles and have a slight slope. Thanks to all the available features, this design does an excellent job of ventilating the interior space.

In connection with all of the above, the instructions on how to draw a Japanese house include several simple tips. The main thing is to have a ruler and pencil and determine the outer boundaries of the structure.

So:

• Concerning interior design such a house, it is directly related to the use of only natural materials.
• But, again, one of the main features of the interior is its ability to transform.
• The main part of the living area in the house is a completely open space, which includes a living room, kitchen, dining room, work area and a podium for the tea ceremony.
• Previously in Japanese houses Paper screens were widely used in partitions. Now it is in use frosted glass or its imitation.
• The geometry of space can change every day or even more often. All this becomes possible thanks to the use in the interior of just sliding partitions. Of course, such interior elements can be built with your own hands in any other home (the price of most of the materials used is not so high), but most functionally, and most importantly aesthetically and effectively, such details will look exactly in the Japanese environment.
• Decorate the interior country house in Japanese style you can do it yourself. To do this, it is enough to depict several oriental ornaments, for example, a branch of sakura. Some Japanese characters will also come in handy.
• In order to decorate certain pieces of furniture (which are not to the eastern man It’s quite difficult to refuse), large fans and small dolls in kimonos are used.

The teaching of Feng Shui, widespread throughout the world, deserves special attention. Its attributes - frogs, dogs and other symbols - turn out to be excellent characters in a Japanese-style interior.

• This direction also requires the installation of low (up to 0.5 m) evergreen pine and plum trees. This is a wonderful attribute of the idea of ​​immortality supported in Japan. The tea ceremony must be carried out using appropriate utensils.
• This is a clay teapot and small cups made of the same material. Despite the simplicity of Japanese design, one should not assume that it is devoid of modernity and comfort. After all, cooking requires a fairly large amount of equipment.

Thanks to the use of appropriate cabinets that hide everything unnecessary behind their doors, it becomes possible not to disturb the atmosphere of style:

• All furniture in a Japanese house is characterized by high functionality. When sitting on the floor during a meal or tea ceremony, a low table is used.
• Niches in the walls are preferred.
• Stained glass is widely used, which often shows the image of sakura.
• Fabric coverings, if any, depict different characters. In addition, images can be applied to them beautiful flowers and leaves having higher value in interior design.
• Straw, raffia, jute, bamboo and sisal are also used for decoration.
• Cold, electric sources of artificial light are not welcome in the interior. Here it is preferable to use national Akari lamps, which allow you to create a special mood by organizing interesting game Sveta.

Light has always been and remains one of the main components of a Japanese-style interior. Rice paper lampshades provide a soft diffusion of light, and the space seems visually more spacious. The dimness of the light allows you to make the room more mysterious and at the same time more comfortable. Watch the video on how to make an interior in Japanese style.

At all times, there has been a fashion for homes built in an unusual style. But Japanese houses are very different from imitations of Dutch, Italian or French architecture. Western projects are always aimed at embodying practicality and all modern conveniences. Japanese houses are a calling card, a continuation of family traditions and worldviews of ancient culture.

Planning a project

Even a person far from Eastern culture, having once looked at Japanese home, will confirm that it is very beautiful and unusual. Why not build yourself such a house? When planning, you just need to take into account a few nuances.

The building must have classic elements and features characteristic of Japanese architecture. The adjacent space must be decorated in accordance with the requirements of oriental tradition and style. The landscape and surrounding vegetation are like a continuation of the home.

Also, Japanese house designs require special walls, roofs and floors. Of course, it will be difficult to comply with all the architectural canons of the Land of the Rising Sun, especially if you are superficially familiar with its culture. Therefore, it may make sense to turn to specialists who will help develop the right project.

In fact, real Japanese houses are difficult to recreate due to the huge number of nuances and details. Therefore, when building a home, it is worth copying not the elements themselves, but the design style. And most likely, you will have to redo something in a Western way to suit your needs.

Layout features

Along the paths and at the entrance to the house you can plant ornamental trees, shrubs of unusual shape, Thunberg pine. The landscape will also be perfectly decorated with a quaint rock garden and a small pond with a waterfall.

A high fence with a gate is installed along the perimeter of the territory, which is most often made of thin steel tubes and tightly covered with bushes. Budget options Eastern houses are simply surrounded by a large stone wall.

The layout of a real Japanese house is an art that takes years to learn. And in some cases it makes sense to copy only certain elements of an eastern home.