Living room
This room was used for cooking and dining.
Folk crafts
Steaming basket
This is a basket used for steaming food. The basket is placed above a pot with hot boiling water to cook the food with the steam rising from the pot.
[Archived at Ibaraki Prefectural Archives and Museums]
Heat-insulating straw basket
Heat-insulating straw basket is used to keep the cooked rice container warm. The rice cooked in a pot is transferred into the container. The cooked rice container is made of wood that absorbs the vapor the freshly-cooked rice emits and thus effectively keeps the rice tasty. In cold regions, the cooked rice container is placed in this straw basket to keep it warm. The straw works as an insulator.
[Archived at Ibaraki Prefectural Archives and Museums]
Four-legged tray
The four-legged tray is used to serve a dinner set for one person. It is easily movable and can be used as a table by arranging multiple trays together.
Sitting room
This room was used for the family to spend a relaxing time together.
Folk crafts
Household Shinto altar
The household Shinto altar is a shelf to enshrine the Shinto gods at home. The altar should be installed at a clean and bright place, close to the ceiling, and facing south or east.
Hearth
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.