THE SHRINE PRIEST'S house at Koma Shrine stands below a splendid 400-year-old weeping cherry tree. Built around 1596-1614, the house has sturdy wood bars over its southern windows for protection against touzoku mountain thieves and wild boars. Interestingly, there is no verandah (engawa), because farmers were not allowed such luxuries, and to be seen relaxing on the veranduh could mean your head. “This was all mulberry fields here,” we were told. “Even the Guji (shrine priest) worked as a farmer. Up in the attic they raised silkworms.” ► BARRED WINDOWS (koshi-mado) were common until Japan became stable under the Tokugawa shoguns in the late 1600s. ► SILK IMPORTS from China were restricted in the late 1600s. Demand for silk soared in Japan, thereafter, and farmers everywhere planted mulberry and raised silkworms.
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