In spring 2013, I went to Kyōto, Japan as part of my studies in Japanology. Having an interest in architecture and staying in Kyōto for one year, the city's traditional town houses, about which I had only heard so much before, soon caught my attention. 

Contrasting pleasantly with the general townscape, the natural materials and intricate details of the houses aroused my interest and I soon began to read up on the names and purposes of all their different elements. Because kyō-machiya, as they are called locally, have emerged as one of the most important assets of the city, coming by literature on them was not at all difficult. 

The more I read about them, the more interested I became, soon not only limiting myself to their architectural refinement, but also to their meaning for the people of Kyōto, both as social as well as economic assets. 

Since machiya are, primarily, private dwellings, most of them can only be admired from the outside, unless one is lucky enough to make friends with a Japanese living in one of them an being invited to their home. Luckily, there are several machiya which are opened to the public as means of educating on their features and preservation. Furthermore, during the annual Gion festival, some of the most splendid houses are especially opened to the public for the duration of the festivities, giving the opportunity to see the interior of a machiya in which people actually still live. 

Also around the same time, I was lucky enough to be introduced to a company renting out elaborately renovated machiya as holiday homes. By working there part-time, I got to get directly in touch with traditional town houses. 

Out of the love I have developed for Kyōto's machiya, I finally decided to make them the topic of my study project which is this website.

I'd like to thank my lecturer, Mrs Eva-Maria Meyer, who first introduced me to kyō-machiya and at whose instigation I was introduced to the aforementioned company. I would also like to thank her for supervising this project.