KAKU-NO-DATE, NORTHERN JAPAN. Here, Ashina Yoshikatsu built a town of ingenious design 390 years ago, with water canals for fire control and tree plantings for wind control. Digging a fire ditch 22m wide and 290m long, Yoshikatsu divided the town in two—a north district of 80 samurai houses and south district of 350 merchant houses. The intersecting streets he staggered to impede invasions. His foresight in city planning enabled this “little Kyoto” of the far north to escape fire and survive much as it was in ancient times. Many trees in the samurai house gardens are now three to four hundred years old. (photograph ⓒ K. Shimizu)
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A STOREHOUSE for the safekeeping of merchandise, the kura (or dozo: earthen storehouse) has walls of layered mud plaster nearly 30cms thick. Besides protecting the kura from fire, the thick walls also provide a high degree of insulation and keep the interior room temperature uniform throughout the seasons. This is important for storing sake, soy sauce, miso and other commodities that need to be protected from wide temperature fluctuations. ►The thick walls have a large heat capacity and moisture capacity, so even on a humid 35C (100F) summer day, the inner wall surface stays cool. ►The walls' outer layer of white plaster (shikkui) deflects sunlight and reduces their solar heat gain, by day, and promotes their radiant cooling by night. ►The roof of the kura is an elevated canopy with a layer of air underneath. As the roof surface grows hot, its heat is quickly released back into the air. (photograph © K. Shimizu) LONG, COLD NIGHTS. Already dark at 4:30 pm. Outside faucet frozen. Venus and Jupiter in the clear evening sky.
►On this longest of all nights, when yin (the night) predominates and yang (the sun) is at its weakest, the Japanese put a yellow yuzu (citron) and sweet flag leaves in the bath to warm the body well against illness. The yuzu represents a prayer for the sun’s revitalization. |
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