Living room - now

Japanese: 居間 - いま

A room in a house where the main person or family usually stays. Historically, this meant rooms called Hiru no Goza and Tsune no Gosho, but since the Edo period it has often been called Ima. From the Edo period onwards, it was also used to refer to the room where the family usually stayed, and since the Meiji Restoration it has often been called Chanoma in addition to Ima. In modern urban homes, both usages can be seen, and rooms where the family usually stays are usually called Chanoma in Japanese-style homes and Ima in Western-style homes. A Western-style Ima is equivalent to the living room in Western homes, or Wohnzimmer (German).

[Hirai Sei]

history

In Japanese houses, the existence of a living room is evident only in the Heian period, when the shinden-zukuri style was used. In shinden-zukuri houses, about two-thirds of the main building of the shinden was called the noon palace, and a two-tatami mat with a shitone was laid out on a wooden floor as a seat. Around this seat were a zushidana (shrine shelf) and a second-floor shelf for storing daily belongings, and were surrounded by folding screens and zenjo (folding screens). At the end of the Heian period, the main building of the shinden was used more often for ceremonies, so its function as a living room was transferred to the north eaves. It is believed that when the living room was transferred to the north eaves, it was expanded to the north and the north magno-hisashi (shrine shelf) was created. However, the shinden was the building in which the woman who owned the house lived, and considering that the wives of the aristocratic class at that time were called the north kata (northern kata), the northern part of the shinden may have been used as a women's living room from an early period. The facing buildings, built to the east, west, or north of the sleeping quarters, were buildings for daughters, and the main building of each building served as the living room for the woman living in it.

In the medieval Shuden-zukuri style of architecture, the south side of the main hall was used for entertaining and meeting guests, so the living room, the Tsunegosho, was located on the north side. The Tsunegosho had a bedroom, the Nurigome, next to it. The living room was equipped with shelves for storing personal items, dressing tables, and yusurutsuki.

In the early modern Shoin-zukuri style, daimyo (feudal lords) tended to carry out more of their daily domain affairs, and the living room became an office for overseeing government affairs, with the daimyo going from the back to the living room in front to carry out their work. Living rooms of this type were called Gozanoma in the Honmaru Palace of Edo Castle, the shogunate's headquarters. In contrast, living rooms that were originally used for daily living were built further back than Gozanoma, and were called Ima, Ima Shoin, or Gokyusoku. The houses of middle and lower class samurai can be seen as simplified and scaled-down versions of the houses of upper class samurai, but the rooms that served as living rooms were called Zashiki or Ima for the master, and Ima or Chanoma for the family. There are many remains of farmhouses from the Edo period, and it is clear that rooms with hearths, called Katte, were used as living rooms.

Urban housing from the Meiji period onwards has followed the style of lower and middle class samurai houses, but the zashiki, which in the Edo period served both as a place to entertain guests and the master's living quarters, came to have these functions separated and consisted of a zashiki and living room, or a zashiki and study. Also, with the creation of Western-style reception rooms, there are cases where the zashiki took on a stronger role as the master's living room. In contrast, it was the cha-no-ma that became the family's living room. During the Meiji period, the cha-no-ma was located near the kitchen on the north side, but in the Taisho period, reflecting the increasing importance placed on family life, it began to be placed in a sunny location facing south. In the Showa period, sunken kotatsu tables were often installed in these south-facing cha-no-ma, strengthening their role as a place for family gatherings.

Meanwhile, during the Meiji period, Western-style architecture was introduced from Europe and America, and Western-style homes began to be built. For the upper classes, Western-style homes were built alongside Japanese-style homes, and were primarily used as places to be enjoyed on special occasions. As a result, the living rooms built into these homes were not places for private family get-togethers, but were essentially places for special occasions. However, from around the Taisho period, Westernization also began to take hold in ordinary urban homes, and examples began to appear of living rooms with chair seating. Such examples were not seen in cases where the chair-sitting lifestyle had been incorporated into traditional Japanese-style homes, but rather in Western-style homes that primarily accommodated the chair-sitting lifestyle, but such examples were still rare and were almost exclusively limited to special cases designed by architects.

After World War II, urban housing became increasingly westernized, but due to the effects of defeat, urban housing could not be made spacious enough, and few houses had living rooms to begin with. Even in apartment buildings, there were only private rooms with tatami mats and dining-kitchen areas with chairs, so if there was room, a private room with tatami mats was used as a living room. It was 20 to 30 years after defeat that private apartment buildings finally started to have chair-type living rooms, and this gradually spread to public buildings as well.

In European homes, the hall played the role of a living room in medieval manor houses, but as the hall's public nature strengthened, parlors and bedrooms were installed as living rooms, that is, rooms where the family lived. Bedrooms were private living rooms that also served as places to sleep, relax, and eat, but after the Renaissance, in large houses, rooms were further divided according to function. For example, in the 17th century in England, in addition to parlors, dining rooms and drawing rooms were installed. Meanwhile, in suburban homes in England, floor plans consisting of a living room and a kitchen were seen around the same time, and guest rooms and dining rooms were added over time. Then, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, living rooms as living rooms became widely seen not only in suburban homes but also in urban homes. The tendency to have bedrooms on the upper floors and to use the first floor as a common living space for living, such as living rooms and dining rooms, is not limited to England, but is common to homes in Europe and America.

[Hirai Sei]

Function and area

In modern Japanese homes, the living room, a room where people sit and sit, is used for daily family activities such as watching TV, talking, listening to music, and drinking tea, and is also used as a guest room. Also, many homes do not have separate rooms for the husband and wife, and the living room is also a place for their daily lives. Due to this situation, furniture, televisions, stereos, pianos, etc. are arranged in anticipation of gatherings of about 7-8 people, including 4-5 family members and guests.

In Europe, a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages has been to have a fireplace in the living room or guest room, making it the center of the room. This can be seen as having the same characteristics as the tokonoma in a Japanese-style room. In Japan, there are only a limited number of architects who can design full-scale fireplaces, and there is no such tradition, so they are often substituted with decorative shelves or walls to display paintings and flowers. Sometimes, in an eclectic mix with the Japanese style, a tokonoma-style niche is installed to display flowers and paintings. Considering the placement of furniture, a space of at least 30 square meters is needed, but since there is not enough space in ordinary urban homes, the living room and dining room are often combined into one room, with each having its own corner for different purposes.

On the other hand, a living room with floor seating, called a cha-no-ma, serves the functions of a living room as well as a dining area. Even if a dining room or kitchen is provided, the dining area is often chair-type, so a floor-type dining area is needed. This tendency is particularly strong in winter or when drinking sake. The cha-no-ma is covered with tatami mats, with a chabudai table in the center and tea chests lined up against the walls. In winter, the chabudai is replaced by a kotatsu. In recent years, chabudai tables with a heat source installed underneath are used, but from the beginning of the Showa period, seated-type sunken kotatsu tables have been used. Kotatsu are heating devices that have been used since the Middle Ages, and originally had a hearth and a tower on top of it. In the Edo period, movable kotatsu tables with a fireplace at the bottom of the tower were developed, and then they changed to seated-type sunken kotatsu tables in the Showa period. A cha-no-ma with a sunken kotatsu was the most popular living room in Japanese homes, serving as a place for family gatherings and conversation. The size of the horigotatsu was often half a tatami mat, but for larger families, it could be as large as one tatami mat. The size of the cha-no-ma was usually between four and a half and eight tatami mats, with six tatami mats being the most common.

[Hirai Sei]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

住宅の中で、主となる人物あるいは家族が普段いる部屋。主となる人物が普段いる部屋の意では、歴史的にみると、昼御座(ひるのござ)、常御所(つねのごしょ)とよばれた部屋がこれにあたり、江戸時代以降は居間とよばれることが多くなった。江戸時代以降になると、家族の普段いる部屋の名称としても用いられ、明治維新以降は、居間のほかに茶の間とよばれることも多い。近代の都市住居では両方の用例がみられ、家族の普段いる部屋は、通常和風の住宅では茶の間、洋風住宅では居間とよばれている。洋風の居間は欧米の住宅におけるリビングルーム、ボーンチンマーWohnzimmer（ドイツ語）などに相当する。

［平井　聖］

歴史

日本の住宅では、平安時代の寝殿造になって初めて居間の存在が明らかになる。寝殿造の住宅では寝殿の母屋(もや)の3分の2ほどの部分が昼御座とよばれ、座として茵(しとね)を置いた2畳の畳が板敷きの床(ゆか)の上に敷かれていた。この座の周囲には、日常手回り品を置く厨子棚(ずしだな)、二階棚などがあり、几帳(きちょう)や軟障(ぜんじょう)で囲まれていた。平安末期になると、寝殿の母屋が儀式で使われることが多くなったために、居間としての機能は北庇(きたびさし)に移った。北庇に居間部分が移ると、北へ拡張して北孫庇がつくられるようになったと考えられている。しかし寝殿はその住宅を所有する女性が居住する建物で、当時の貴族階級の夫人を北の方(かた)とよんだことからみて、寝殿北部が早くから女性の居間にあてられていたのかもしれない。寝殿の東西あるいは北に建てられた対屋(たいのや)は娘のための建物で、それぞれ母屋がその対屋に住む女性の居間となっていた。

　中世の主殿造(しゅでんづくり)では、中心になる主殿の南側を接客、対面のための場としていたから、居間となる常御所は北側にあった。常御所には寝室となる塗籠(ぬりごめ)が隣接して設けられていた。居間には手回りの品を収める棚や鏡台や泔坏(ゆするつき)などが用意されていた。

　近世の書院造では、大名の場合、日常の藩務が多くなり、居間は政務をみるための事務室となり、大名は奥から表の居間に出て執務した。このような居間は、幕府の本拠である江戸城本丸御殿などでは御座間(ござのま)とよばれていた。これに対して、本来の日常住まう居間が御座間より奥に改めて建てられ、居間、居間書院、御休息とよばれている。中・下層の武家住宅は、上層武家住宅の簡略、縮小型とみてよいが、居間にあたる部屋は、主人の場合座敷あるいは居間、家族の場合居間あるいは茶の間などとよばれていた。農家は、江戸時代になると多くの遺構があり、勝手(かって)などとよばれていた囲炉裏(いろり)のある部屋が居間として使われていたことがわかる。

　明治以後の都市住宅は中・下層の武家住宅を踏襲しているが、江戸時代に接客の場と主人の居室を兼ねていた座敷は、両機能が分離して座敷と居間、あるいは座敷と書斎の構成をとるようになる。また、洋風の応接室ができると、座敷が主人の居間の性格を強める場合もみられる。これに対して家族の居間となったのは茶の間であった。明治期には北側の台所に近い場所にあった茶の間は、大正期に入ると家族生活がしだいに重視されるようになったことを反映して、南面する日の当たる場所に設けられるようになっていく。この南面する茶の間には、昭和期に入ると掘りごたつが設けられることが多くなり、家族が集まるだんらんの場の性格を強めている。

　一方、明治期にはヨーロッパやアメリカから洋式の建築が入り、洋風住宅が建てられるようになった。洋風住宅は、上層階級の場合には和風住宅と併立して建てられ、主として晴(はれ)向きの場として使われていた。したがって、その中につくられていた居間は家族の私的なだんらんの場ではなく、実質は晴の場であった。しかし、大正期ごろから一般の都市住宅でも洋風化が進み、椅子(いす)座式の居間を設ける例がみられるようになる。このような例は、従来の和風住宅に椅子座式の生活様式が取り込まれた場合にはみられず、洋風で椅子座式の生活様式を主体とした住居に現れるが、その例はまだ少なく、ほとんど建築家が設計した特別な場合に限られていた。

　第二次世界大戦後になると都市住宅の洋風化はいっそう進むが、敗戦の影響から都市住宅は十分な広さをとることができず、初めから居間を設けた例は少なかった。集合住宅においても、椅子座式のダイニングキッチンのほかには畳敷きの個室しかなかったから、余裕のある場合に畳敷きの個室を茶の間にあてる程度であった。敗戦後20～30年余りを経過して、ようやく民間集合住宅から椅子座式の居間が設けられるようになり、公営のものにもしだいに及んでいる。

　ヨーロッパの住宅では、中世のマナハウスmanor house（荘園(しょうえん)領主の邸宅）において、ホールが居間の役割を果たしていたが、ホールの公的性格が強まるにつれて、居間すなわち家族が生活する部屋としてのパーラーや寝室が設けられるようになった。寝室は個人の居間で、寝る場所、くつろぐ場所、食事をする場所を兼ねていたが、ルネサンス以降になると、規模の大きな住宅では、機能によってさらに部屋を分けるようになる。イギリスの例では、17世紀には、パーラーのほかに食堂（ダイニングルーム）や客間（ドローイングルーム）を設けるようになっている。一方、イギリスの郊外住宅では同じころ、居間（リビングルーム）と台所からなる間取りがみられ、時代とともに客間や食堂が加えられていく。そして19世紀末から20世紀初頭に、居間としてのリビングルームが、郊外の住宅だけでなく都市住宅にも広くみられるようになった。寝室を階上に設け、1階を居間をはじめ食堂、客間など共同の生活の場とする傾向はイギリスに限らずヨーロッパやアメリカの住宅に共通している。

［平井　聖］

機能と面積

現代の日本の住宅において、リビングルームとよばれる椅子座式の居間はだんらん、すなわちテレビを見る、話し合う、音楽を楽しむ、お茶を飲むなどの家族の日常の生活行為に使われるほかに客間としても使われるのが実情である。また、主人、主婦のための個室がない家が多く、主人、主婦の日常生活の場ともなっている。これらの状況から、家族4～5人、客を含めて7～8人程度が集まることを予想して家具、テレビ、ステレオ、ピアノなどを配置することになる。

　ヨーロッパでは、中世以来の伝統として居間や客間に暖炉を設け、部屋の中心としている。これは和室における床の間と同様の性格とみてよい。日本では本格的に暖炉が設計できる建築家は限られているうえに、そのような伝統もないので、飾り棚や絵画や花などを飾る壁面などで代用することが多い。和風と折衷していけ花や絵画を飾る床の間風のニッチnicheを設けることもある。広さは、家具の配置などを考えると30平方メートル以上必要であるが、一般の都市住宅では十分な広さをとる余裕がないために、居間と食堂を一室にし、それぞれのコーナーを設けて使い分けていることが多い。

　一方、茶の間とよばれる床(ゆか)座式の居間は、リビングルームの場合の機能に加えて食事が加わる。ダイニングキッチンなど食事をする場所が設けられている場合でも多くの場合食事をする場所は椅子座式であるので、床座式の食事の場所が欲しくなる。とくに冬季や日本酒を飲む場合にはその傾向が強い。茶の間は畳敷きで、中央にちゃぶ台を置き壁ぎわに茶だんすなどが並べられる。冬季には、ちゃぶ台はこたつにかわる。近年は、ちゃぶ台の裏に熱源を仕込んだものが用いられるが、昭和期の初めごろから腰掛式の掘りごたつが用いられてきた。こたつは中世から使われている暖房器具で、初め炉を切り、その上に櫓(やぐら)をのせていたが、江戸時代に櫓の底部に火を置く可動の置きごたつができ、さらに昭和期の腰掛式の掘りごたつへと移り変わってきた。この掘りごたつを備えた茶の間は、家族の集まり語らう場として、これまでの日本の住宅のなかでもっとも好ましい居間の形式であった。掘りごたつの大きさは半畳のものが多く、家族が多い場合は1畳ほどのものまでみられた。茶の間の広さは通常4畳半から8畳までで、6畳が一般的である。

［平井　聖］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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