Kitchen・Reception hall

Kitchen

This room was used for cooking and dining.

Folk crafts

Free pot-hook
自在鉤

The free pot-hook is a tool for hanging a pot when cooking above the fire in the hearth. This tool hung from the beam above the hearth and is called a free pot-hook because its height or rotation is freely adjustable.
The crossbars, the wood pieces used for securing the pot-hook, range from a simple piece of wood with a hole to a decorative one in a fish, fan or gourd shape, which all represent good luck.

Hearth
囲炉裏

A sunken hearth is a type of furnace with a square-shaped cut out in the floor to make a fire. It is filled with ash, upon which charcoal or firewood was burned to cook food or heat the room. Each family member is supposed to sit in his/her appointed seat such as the “yokoza,”the seat farthest from the earthen floor, for the head of the family.

Reception hall

This room was used for daily guests and villagers’ gatherings.

広間