Eco Homes
掘り炬燵 – Hori Kotatsu – Traditional Fire Place
January 25, 2010 by admin · 2 Comments
The center room of the newly finished Shojiko house has 150 year old 2ft wide floor boards surrounding a traditional horikotatsu fireplace. Perfect for sitting around drinking sake and roasting kuri and yakiniku with friends. The home is offered with a collection of rare and beautiful antiques from Meji and Edo period Japan. The house is currently for sale, with a 2,000,000 yen discount for families who enroll in the local schools.
See house details and pricing at…. Shojiko High Village House
Nice – what’s above the horikotatsu fireplace? Where does the smoke go? Is that pit just lined with stone? Nice place.
The bits hanging above the fire place are adjustable pot holders, so you can heat your tea or stew, and set the height just right to control the temperature. Traditionally the homes had no chimney and the smoke was used as to preserve the wood and thatch. Modern thatched homes that dont smoke themselves thoroughly have roof with a much shorter lifetime. But living with a smoke layer that starts at about 1,5m is tough, you have to bend down to see where you are going. We are thinking of adding a chimney of the home buyer plans on using the irori.