heichi jūkyo 平地住居

A type of house in which the floor is level with the surface of the ground, rather than excavated into it like a pit-dwelling *tateana jūkyo 竪穴住居, or raised above it like an elevated dwelling takayuka jūkyo 高床住居. Archaeological research indicates that this type of floor has existed in Japan since the Jōmon period. Heichi jūkyo with peripheral walls, rather than a roof extending to the ground, appear to have become common in western Japan during the course of the Kofun period, superseding pit-dwellings. They gradually became dominant in the east and north too during the Heian and early medieval periods.