Houses of the people, kitchens of the great: a Japanese enigma

The gulf dividing the houses of ruling elites from those in use among the bulk of a population (here referred to as vernacular) is a phenomenon common to many cultures. It reflects the close correlation between the kind of house in which an individual lives and his social status. A grasp of the relationship, between elite and vernacular houses in societies where both exist enhances our understanding of the development of domestic architecture, and our appreciation of the wider historical significance of that development. This paper explores an aspect of the relationship between elite and vernacular houses in seventeenth-century Japan.