THE TREND OF CHANGES OF THE FINISHING MATERIALS IN THE HOME KITCHEN

–The morphological changes of the kitchen analyzing the authorized textbooks on domestic science for girls’ high school in prewar Japan–

Abstract

This paper aims to report the trend of changes of the finishing materials used for floor, walls, ceiling, and the parts around the sink and oven in the home kitchen analyzing the descriptions in the authorized textbooks on domestic science from Meiji to early Showa era. The expressions about the finishing materials started to describe from 1909, and increase after mid-Taisho era. After that, especially after 1928, the new materials – tiles, artificial stone, and concrete – were described frequently. In general, those expressions of materials in the textbooks meant the development of the concept of hygiene to the specific morphology.