THE CHARACTERISTICS AND GENEALOGY OF THE MINKA IN AND AROUND HAKODATE-CITY : The study on the Minka of Wajinchi in the southern area of Hokkaido

Abstract

This study aims to comprehend the characteristics and the genealogy of firmhouses in and around Hakodate- City. Twenty-six farmhouses were investigated and eighteen farmhouses were surveyed among them. The result of this study can be summarized as follows. 1) Almost plans of the farmhouses in Wajinchi- Higasizai, Japanese colonies in Hokkaido, are kuitigai- yomadori type, named Kamedastyle, regional Minka style. 2) The plan of Kameda type consists of two parts, namely public front part and private back part. The public part is equipped with special facilities which represent social status of household such as the principal post, wide hall, the boundary lintel between earth floor and hall, household shrine, tokonoma and household Buddhist alter. 3) The plan layout of neither Hokkaido settlement' farmhouses nor Tohoku farmhouses shows similarity with that of Kameda type. The intimate similarity of plan layout is found with traditional farmhouses of Echigo.