In [fig. 139] (see page 162) the kura had been originally built some fifteen feet from the main house, and subsequently the intervening space had been roofed over as shown in the drawing.
The doors of the kura are ponderous structures, and are usually left open for ventilation; a heavily grated sliding-door, however, closes the entrance effectually when the thick doors are left open. [Fig. 140] represents the doorway of an old kura in Kioto illustrating these features. In [fig. 141] the large key is the one belonging to the inner grated door, while fig. 142 shows the padlock to the outer doors.
Fig. 141.—Key to kura, and bunch of keys.
Fig. 142.—Padlock to kura.
The upper room of the kura is often utilized as a store-room, taking the place of the country attic; and one may find here bundles of dried herbs, corn, an old spinning-wheel, chests, and indeed just such objects as ultimately find a resting-place in our attics at home. In this section it would have been more systematic to deal with the tokonoma and chigai-dana separately; but in the [pg 165] description of interiors, it was difficult to describe them without including under the same consideration these recesses, as they form an integral part of the principal room.
In my remarks on house-construction, reference was made to the ceiling and the way in which it is made and held in place, the form of ceiling there described being the almost universal one throughout the country. The Japanese word for ceiling is tenjo,—literally, “heaven's well.”