Welcome to Gojo Machiya - My Kyoto Machiya

Welcome to Gojo Machiya, Samurai Steve's Home

Welcome to Gojo Machiya. This is Samurai Steve’s place and we hope you’ll like it. Steve’s family crest is the “Maru ni Chigai Taka no Ha” (Crossing faulcon feathers within a cercle) of the Asano family. (Please note that the decoration may change with the season.)

Here is a more detailed description of the Gojo Machiya. (you can click on any photo to see a larger one).

Floor Plan

The floor plan of the house will make it easier to understand the position and layout of the various rooms and areas of this house. Simply click on the small graphic to see a larger one.

The Entrance

After the “genkan” where you leave your shoes and hang your coat, you open a second inside glass door, enter into the house and face the living room.

The LDK – Living Dinning Kitchen

The living room corner with seating space for three persons and a coffee table.

The Dinning Table and the Kitchen

Gojo Machiya - The dinning table in front of the Japanese living space and the kitchen n the right

The kitchen is modern and fully equipped with sink, induction heating plate, and all the necessary appliances you’d expect to find in a home: fridge with freezer, coffee maker, electric kettle, toaster, rice cooker, oven/wave oven, pressure cooker, blender, and all the pans and cutlery and plates and glasses, etc.

The dinning table with bench and chairs for six persons. The table itself is made of a large piece of wood that is over 100 year old.

The Japanese living Space

Gojo Machiya - Enjoying the Tsubo Niwa or Courtyard Garden

Behind the dinning table you’ll find the Japanese living space which is a room with traditional tatami mats surrounded by paper door or “shôji”. Usually a low table and seating cushions are placed in the middle to enable our guests to have a cup of tea (or a glass of beer or wine) while enjoying the view of the “Tsuboniwa” or courtyard garden. Depending on the number of guests, this room can also be used as a bedroom using futons.

The Japanese Tatami mat space (with floor heating)
The Yukimi Shôji let you open the lower part to see the garden while seated
The Yukimi Shôji let you open the lower part to see the garden while seated
Entirely closed

The Bathroom Area

The bathroom is located at the end of the house, by the garden. Behind an old sliding wooden door (actually one of the original door of the machiya) you’ll first find the laundry room with a fully automatic washing machine/dryer. From there, you access the toilet (the Japanese “washlet” may surprise you) and the bathroom itself. The wooden bathroom is made of Japanese cypress wood. On one side, you have the shower and area to wash and on the other, by a window overlooking the garden, you have a bathtub. The bath is controlled by an electronic system — you simply press a button and the bathtub will automatically fill up with hot water. The voice of a Japanese lady will announce when the bath is ready. After a long day of visiting temples and shrines, there is nothing more relaxing than a good Japanese hot bath enjoying the view of the flowers in the garden.

Gojo Machiya - the laundry corner with a fully automatic washing machine/dryer

The bathtub overlooking the garden - very relaxing at the end of the day

Upstairs

The stairs have been completely redone to be easy to use. The original ones were so steep, they looked more like a ladder than stairs. We have open the floor and the roof to create a light pit. A huge closet has been replaced by a little working corner with a desk — very convenient to jot down some notes or take care of email. And we’ve added a second toilet for more convenience. From there, you have independent access to both bedrooms, the western style one with two beds, and the Japanese tatami mat one (Samurai Steve’s room) where we place two futons whenever necessary.