takiguchi 焚口

The stokehole or stokeholes in the side of a cooking range *kamado 竃. The number matched the number of holes, kamaguchi 釜口, in the top of the kamado for the pans or cauldrons. In general, an odd number of holes was preferred in the case of large kamado with several holes. In more sophisticated kamado, the takiguchi were lined with stone or tile. The takiguchi often faced away from the raised-floor area if the kamado adjoined it, so that fuel could be fed in from the earthfloored area *doma 土間. In the case of the curvilinear planned magatamagata kamado 勾玉形竃 in the Kinki 近畿 region, the takiguchi were always situated on the inner side of the curve.