Zashiki (座敷)

The zashiki is the most prestigious and biggest room in a machiya. It faces the back yard and is used for receiving very important guests who were personally invited by the household head or on special occasions throughout the year. Also, the alcove known as toko no ma or simply toko and the chigaidana can be found here.

The alcove normally borders the outer wall or a small bay known as tsuke shoin and does not cover the entire length of the wall. The toko can be elevated to make it distinct from the rest of the room, it can be of another material than the floor, or both. The ceiling is not as high as the rest of the room and the pillar which separates the toko from the space next to it is always made out of a different wood than the rest of the house's pillars.

Next to the toko are shelves that are offset from each other, which gives them their name, chigaidana, meaning "differing shelves". The ends of those shelves are curved upwards, preventing valuables or exhibits that were placed on them from rolling of. Sometimes, there are some additional shelves which can be closed by small sliding panels. Depending on whether they are located directly under the ceiling or on the floor, their names differ: on the ceiling, they are called tenbukuro, on the floor jibukuro.

As the interior of a machiya is very plain, the toko no ma is the only place that is normally decorated. A hanging scroll, some artfully arranged flowers and some valuables, which are all subject to change as the seasons change, go a long way to set a unique atmosphere. The toko no ma is a very important and special place, which also becomes evident by the sheer number of different designs: there are more than 200.