Tadashi Sugiura

House Types in the Senboku District, Northeastern Japan

In the Senboku District which comprises northern part of the Yokote Basin and its surrounding area, Akita Prefecture in northeastern Japan, we still find some examples of the traditional L-shaped houses called Magariya. These L-shaped houses are in many ways similar to the L-shaped houses distributed in Iwate Prefecture, the so-called Nanbumagariya, and are usually considered to be descended from these. In other areas close to this region, however, it is known that there is another type of L-shaped houses called Chumonzukuri. In this paper the author has tried to clarify the distribution of Magariya and its subtypes in the Senboku District and to consider its cultural relationphip to the areas in which are distributed the Nanbumagariya and Chumonzukuri.In order to investigate the house type distribution, the author has used mainly old house plans which were plotted by local admistrative offices. In addition to this material he has made a field suryey and various interviews for this study.The typology of house types, especially Magariya types shown in Fig. 2, was used to illustrate regionality in house types and some distribution maps for each type were drawn.Many types of Magariya considered to be descended from the Nanbumagariya are distributed thoroughout the Senboku District, but the proportion of Magariya is higher in the northern area than in the southern. Some houses in this region, however, can be inferred to be descended from Chumonzukuri, and this type occurs predominantly along the southern border of this region and in the northern fringe, such as in Tamagawa Village (ref. Fig. 12)From this distributional pattern of house types a following hypothesis referring to cultural diffusion can be assumed. Namely, the cultural elements of Chumonzukuri descent have diffused from the southern distrct to the northern periphery of the Senboku District, and later those of Nanbu origin were introduced from the Nanbu District via the Sengan-Pass and gradually became widespread over the greater part of the Senboku District. This assumption is the product of purely geographical observation without any historical or architectural evidence and it will therefore be necessary to make further examinations.

House Types along Urban Street and their Air-photo Interpretation

The Japanese term “Machiya” means commonlly dwelling houses in urban areas, and especially in a narrow sense it means commerical houses. In this paper the authors attempt to classify house types of Machiya and to enumerate them in some districts by using air-photos, and in addition, to discuss some problems of air-photo interpretation of Machiya and general house types.(1) Some types of Machiya were newly classified as in Fig. 1 with the combination of house parts having each roof-ridge and their situations to the street.(2) By using air-photos these types could be enumerated with fairly high exactitude. At this time, various information of house-form greatly contribute to correct interpretation of photo-images. Air-photos can be one of the effective means for house type study when used with the understanding of its advantages and disadvantages.(3) Some examinations of enumerating each Machiya type by using air-photos and in some parts making on-the-spot observations were made of several streets in Sendai, Imaichi, Rifu and Arahama, Miyagi Prefecture. As a result Type A is comparatively dominant in each street, and plays an imporant role in composition of the street landscape. Accordingly, it is further necessary to investigate its distribution, structural technique and various factors of forming this type.

The Forest Fire in Yamagata Mura in the Northern

A forest fire occurred under an abnormally dry condition and spread eastward in a form of surface fire or spot fire fanned by the strong west wind. As a result, 2100 ha of forestland and 23 houses were burned to ashes.Precisely observing the burned district, authors observed that a resinous Pinus denisflora were mostly destroyed by the fire, and in striking contrast to this, the broad-leaved trees such a Fagus crenata, Castanea crenata, Quercus crispula, Acer mono received but slight destruction. Besides, especially when the strike of slope and the direction of the wind met at a right angle, the forest suffered heavy damage by the fire.It is usual that “forest fires” exert heavy damages over local inhabitants depend on the forest. But, local inhabitants in this region have been accustomed to utilize national forests (burned area was 1200 ha) for a long time as the source of fuels and for cattle raising. And also, private forests (burned area 900 ha) mainly consisted of broad-leaved trees with a few useful trees planted artificially such as Pinus densiflora, were not exploited enough, partly because the local economy depended largely upon national forests, and partly because fuel industry has declined in recent years.Judging from these reasons, authors concluded that the forest fire which took place in this region never had a wide influence on local economy.