kamaya 釜屋

Also written 竈屋. Lit. cooking room. Either refers to a freestanding structure used for cooking, or a part of a vernacular house *minka 民家, used for cooking. The term was already in use in temples of the Nara period to mean a building used for cooking, especially boiling rice. It had one or more cauldrons kama 釜, and cooking ranges *kamado 竈. In the Edo period, minka in various parts of Japan including Chiba, Okayama, Shimane and Kagawa Prefectures, a free-standing structure that stood either to the lower end *shimote 下手, of the main house, or behind the earth-floored area *doma 土間. The kamaya had a hard-packed floor and contained a cooking range. In many parts of Japan, the kamaya referred to an area used for cooking, where the cooking range was situated. It was usually a part of the earth-floored area toward the rear of the house. In minka in Shikoku 四国, and parts of Okayama, Tokyo and Yamaguchi Prefectures, the kamaya was an earth-floored area which projected from the rear of the main house *hon'ya 本屋, either in the form of a penthouse structure *geya 下屋, or forming a T-shaped or L-shaped plan tsunoya 角屋. Again, this was used for food preparation and contained a cooking range. In Tokushima Prefecture, it was also called kamaba 釜場. In minka in the Nara and Osaka areas, the kamaya was an extension of the earth-floored area at the lower end. It contained a sink, nagashi 流し, in addition to the cooking range. In houses with a *yamatomune 大和棟 style roof, the tiled roof of the kamaya was often lower than that of the main thatched part, and was provided with a smoke louvre *kemuridashi 煙出. In vernacular houses in parts of Yamanashi Prefecture, the kamaya referred to a low timber platform projecting into the rear part of the earth-floored area doma. In divided-ridge type farmhouses *buntōgata 分棟型 of the Edo period in Honshū 本州, kamaya was the most common term used to refer to the structure that covered the earth-floored area. It directly abutted the raised-floor living structure kyoshitsubu 居室部. A valley gutter *toi 樋, was generally constructed at the interface between the two buildings. The kamaya usually had a hipped roof *yosemune yane 寄棟屋根, covered with thatch, contained a cooking range, and served as a cooking area and an indoor working area. In some cases it also incorporated a stable *umaya 馬屋.