Japanese room entranceways - Traditional Machiya House Features

Have you ever noticed the different entrance door designs of Japanese ‘washitsu’ rooms? 2 of the more unique entrances are the ‘nijiri-guchi’ entrance, and the ‘katoguchi’ entrance.

Tea room entrances with low, square openings are known as ‘nijiri-guchi’. These entrances are reserved for guests, as they require them to lower themselves to crawl through the entranceway. This was especially important during the Warring States period, when the samurai master-servant relationship was prevalent. The low openings in the tea room forced even samurai warriors to remove their swords to enter, which placed everyone as equals and ignored class rankings during tea ceremonies.

On the other hand, entrances with a sloping, arched design are known as ‘katoguchi,’ and were mainly used as an entrance for servers and hosts. The tea rooms found in our machiya holiday rentals are not only beautiful to admire, but can function as an additional bedrooms set with futon bedding.