Mise in townhouses in seventeenth-century Japan: their fittings, measurements and spatial transformation

Abstract

In machiya architecture, a mise is a room between the street front and house’s inner area for commercial use. Between the mise and street front, front fittings, such as shutters, sliding doors and lattice-work are fixed, and the eaves are extended to cover the outside of the mise. This paper surveys seventeenth-century townhouses with a focus on the spatial relationship among the mise, doma, and street front. It confirms that, between the mise and street front, the combination of lattice-work and sliding doors transformed the use of sliding doors or wooden shutters. Additionally, the height of the fittings and depth of the front eaves gradually increased with time. This tendency was also observed in the relationship between the mise and doma. In the mid-seventeenth century, doors were fixed in tsukidome-mizo to separate the mise from the doma; however, in the late seventeenth century, the doors were fixed in hikichigai-mizo, which enabled free access from the doma. When viewed from the street front and doma, the spatial relationship of the mise changed from a closed to an open structure. This architectural transformation possibly reflected a social change in the seventeenth century, when federal governance was established after a long warring period.