I painted another streetscape of Gion geisha district.  This time I focused more on architectural details of the houses typical in the historical neighborhoods of Kyoto (View Gion I and Gion II paintings).

These old-fashioned wooden houses are called machiya, meaning houses of townspeople.  Machiyas were built from as early as the 9th century to the 18th century, and many still exist.  But it is very costly to maintain them so, sadly, they are disappearing very quickly.

It was mostly merchants and craftsmen who lived in these houses so the front of the house was usually used as retail shop space.  Narrow frontage doesn't suggest the size of the house at all, though.  Once we open the front sliding door, it is quite long inside as all kinds of rooms stretch deep into the rear of the house where we often find a small garden.

Wooden lattices are a typical feature of machiya.  I can't really tell the difference, to be honest, but I heard that the style of lattice is different from one type of business to another.  Houses of geisha sometimes had lattices painted in vermillion.


Click here for a larger view.

Media: original watercolor
Image Size: 11.5 x 8.25 in. (on a 12 x 9 paper)
Purchase: Sold


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