itadoko 板床

An alcove with a wooden floor instead of a *tatami 畳 mat. There are two methods of making an itadoko. The first is to construct a framing board like those in an ordinary alcove *tokonoma 床の間, and set the board floor even with the top of the frame which raises the alcove floor above the tatami mat floor of the tea ceremony room *chashitsu 茶室. Red pine, zelkova, or Japanese horse chestnut are commonly used for the flooring. The frame can be finished with black lacquer, plain wood with the grain visible, or a bark-covered piece of wood cut from a log showing the marks of an adze *chōna 釿. Example: Saigyōan Kainyoan 西行庵皆如庵, in Kyoto. The other method is called *kekomidoko 蹴込床 and does not elevate the boarded floor of the alcove above the level of the tatami mat floor of the tea ceremony room. Example: Fujimitei 富士見亭 at Gotō 五島 Museum, in Kyoto.