Naramachi is the part of Nara that has worked most successfully to retain its traditional character.
Initial impressions are not encouraging.
Here, however, a new house has been built in the traditional style of the urban townhouse, or machiya. It's open as a free museum.
The floorplan is long and narrow, fitting the historically characteristic long, narrow lot.
Room is made for an inner garden or naka-niwa.
The garden is more likely to be enjoyed from inside than out.
A box staircase, or hako-kaidan, doubling as a cabinet.
The posts are trunks.
The single-roomed upstairs.
The rooftop view.
Stove.
Back on a traditional-looking street.
Plenty of wood fronts.
More.
Wood slats, or koshi, deflect prying eyes while allowing residents to see the street.
Entrance.
The same building.
A pharmacy.
Misfit.
Why were lots so narrow? One explanation is that taxes were proportional to facade length.
The local craft museum.
