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hako so no one will get thirsty during a night of conversation. I have switched
from Export ‘A’ cigarettes to ‘Golden Bat’; Randy has always rolled his own.
Yoshimi doesn’t smoke. Everyone else does. Knapper-san may have some
‘Suntory’ uisuki (whiskey) if we go dry, I’m told.
There is not much to see but the house. Knapper’s house stands alone in a
large grassy open space surrounded by trees and bush. The east side of his
property drops into a deep bamboo-and-tree-filled ravine running more or less
north and south. No neighbouring farms can be seen in any direction. I imagine I
could be at a farm house surrounded by shelter belt somewhere on the
Saskatchewan prairie, yet this is more intimate. Knapper’s seems a large farm
house, compared to those I’d observed from roads during my limited travels.
Aligned with the compass points, its front overlooks the ravine. The shoji are
open, exposing some of the interior rooms to the outside. In fact, when shoji are
open a wall has been removed. This gives a clear view of the ravine, but while
picturesque, ‘mushi’ (bugs - mosquitoes) would become a nuisance as soon as the
sun sets.
It is a traditional Japanese wooden post and beam structure. The posts (thick
vertical members) are anchored to the tops of piles that have been driven into the
ground. The floor is a wooden platform about two feet above the ground resting on
beams (horizontal members) that are attached by joinery to the posts — the joints
connecting all the members are designed to permit movement — to flex during an
earthquake. Metal devices such as nails and brackets aren’t used at all making it
possible to disassemble a building, move it, and reassemble it elsewhere. Outside
the exterior walls of stucco; wood; or sliding shoji that are covered with rice paper
to admit light when closed; the wooden platform becomes a walkway that can go
right round, but does not in Knapper’s house. Inside, the floor is covered with
tatami, whose surface is level with the walkway. Simplicity of design resulting
from centuries of refinement permits occupants of the Japanese house to
comfortably experience their environment’s changing weather and seasonal cycles.
Residents are part of nature rather than being isolated from nature. Balance
between yin and yang is the harmony sought and reflected here. Grace.
The layout of the Japanese house is determined during planning by the
number of tatami the house will contain. Tatami are three feet by six feet by three
by Morley Evans