Machiya: The Traditional Townhouses of Kyoto

Kumiko’s photography is very high quality and makes me want to visit Kyoto.It is also great that all of the Japanese text is translated into English, everything, even the glossary!Explanations of traditional architectural elements are interesting and thorough.This book is well done!

Pour qui s’intéresse à l’architecture japonaise et qui compte visiter Kyoto c’est le livre à avoir. Lorsque je suis allé à Kyoto je ne l’avais pas et là je vois tout ce que j’ai raté il est certain que ce sera mon guide lorsque je retournerais à Kyoto d’autant qu’en plus des photos et des indications sur les maisons il y a leur adresse

Schönes Bilderbuch mit vielen Innenaufnahmen aus den traditionellen Stadthäusern Kyotos. Da nur wenige Stadthäuser zu besichtigen sind, wird man als Tourist nur die Außenfassaden kennen. Dahinter öffnet sich jedoch eine ganz neue Welt, die in diesem Buch zum Einblick freigegeben ist. Wundervolle Photo-Dokumentation der Innenräume dahinter. Text beschränkt sich auf Bilderzuordnungen, bitte erwarten Sie keinerlei Wissensvermittlung. Das ist einfach nur ein schönes Bilderbuch, das die Neugier befriedigt, wie es hinter den Fassaden aussieht, und wie hinter diesen Fassaden eine Zeitkapsel traditioneller Wohnkultur lebendig gehalten wird.

I was really looking forward to this book as there are no good books in English about Machiya. Unfortunately this book suffers from a variety of defects and problems. Fortunately most of these can be addressed by a future edition, if there eve is one.The premise is good and simple: To show a variety of Machiya with many photographs showing exteriors, interiors, details, gardens, etc. showing the unique nature of this type of Japanese HouseFirst of all, many of the photographs are much too small. There are many in the format of 3" x 2", and even with a magnifying glass it is hard to make out details. They should have gone for a larger format, less photographs or more pages, or a combination of these.This book is a softcover and much too tightly bound, so the pages do not stay open, even after repeated viewing. It is annoying having to hold the book open when viewing.The text ranges from mediocre to completely useless. The translation in many cases do not make sense at all.What I really wanted in this book was floorplans of the Machuya because there is quite a variety. Regrettably, there is only one small generic floor plan 4" x 3/4" after the introduction.Therefore, for studying Machiya this book is useless. Small photos, badly bound, unusable text and no floor plans, indication of size or other building details.I give this book two stars instead of one because of the interest some of the photos have for me.Review by Walter O. Koenig