Engawa

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title: "Engawa" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["japanese-architectural-features", "flood-control-in-japan"] description: "Edging strip in Japanese architecture" topic_path: "geography/japan" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engawa" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Edging strip in Japanese architecture ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Japon-1886-18.jpg" caption="engawa}}, and the traditional stone step."] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Storm-door,amado,narita-city,japan.JPG" caption="amado}} leaning up against the corner is a storm shutter, and is usually stored away."] ::

An or is an edging strip of non-tatami-matted flooring in Japanese architecture, usually wood or bamboo. The ja may run around the rooms, on the outside of the building, in which case they resemble a porch or sunroom.

Usually, the ja is outside the translucent paper ja, but inside the amado storm shutters (when they are not packed away). However, some ja run outside the ja. ja that cannot be enclosed by ja, or sufficiently sheltered by eaves, must be finished to withstand the Japanese climate. Modern architecture often encloses an ja with sheet glass. An ja allows the building to remain open in the rain or sun, without getting too wet or hot, and allows flexible ventilation and sightlines.

The area under an ja is sloped away from the building, and often paved, to carry water away. The area directly outside the paving is usually a collector drain that takes water still further away. The ja is thus a way to bridge the obstacles good drainage puts between the indoors and the outdoors.

Structure

The ja is supported on posts, identical to the other uprights of the house. More recent houses may use concrete footings.

The ja floor may not be finished, or it may be polished or lacquered.

Terminology

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Myoshinji_taizoin08n3.jpg" caption="hiro-en}} is enclosed. Drainage provision is obvious."] ::

ja means an edge; ja a side. The terms ja and ja were historically used interchangeably, but ja now generally refers to the veranda directly outside the shutters. Types of ja include:

Positional terms

• , an inner ja, possibly enclosed
• , an ja set one step below the floor (or ja) inside it
• , an ja protruding from under the eaves and not protected by ja.

If there are fewer than three ja, an ja may be described by more than one of the positional terms.

Structural terms

• , a wrap-around ja, often a wrap-around veranda
• , a ja with boards running across its width
• , a ja with boards running along its length
• , a veranda with a slatted floor for better drainage
• , a bamboo ja

File:Yakushi-do - Gokokuji - Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan - DSC07838.JPG|ja, an ja which continues all around the building File:風土記の丘の古い家､縁側 - panoramio.jpg|ja showing traditional mitered corner treatment. ja in foreground. File:Ishibe shukubanosato13s3200.jpg|ja. The gravel path may well double as a collector drain. File:Raigoin (Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto)0751.JPG|Fast-draining ja in lower right corner, near a tap File:Geppa-ro.jpg|ja in the Geppa-rō rustic tea pavilion, overlooking the water at Katsura Imperial Villa (close-up, drainage) File:Tabi miyage dai nishū, Ame no Kiyomizu-dera by Kawase Hasui.jpg|Broad ja at Kiyomizu-dera; the dry section may be seen to the right.

Relation to other house components

The core of a traditional Shinden-style building was the innermost room or (see diagram). This was surrounded by the , which was on the same level, and was usually inside the windows and ja storm shutters. The ja was often a ring of tatami-floored rooms, but could be an unmatted ja; see also . In a large building, there could be further layers of tatami-floored rooms, courtyards, and further floorplan complications.

In Shoin-style buildings, the positioning of the ja varied more, and the storm shutters slid rather than being hinged (usually horizontally). The modern Sukiya-style of building uses ja, storm shutters that not only slide but pack away in a cupboard called a ja by day; unlike the Shoin-style shutter, these generally run on the outside of the ja.

The width of an ja varies with the building; 1 – is common, while large temples may have over 3 m of ja. The ja is supported on posts, identical to the other uprights of the house. The posts stand on half-buried stones or concrete footings.

File:Moya_hisashi.svg|ja and ja. The ja may itself be an ja in small buildings, or it may be a second layer of tatami-floored rooms, with a hard-floored en running outside it. Genji emaki TAKEKAWA Large.jpg|alt=A courtyard with ja on the left and rear sides, a low sitting-height rail on the left side only, and ja (bamboo roller blinds) flush to the right side; in the court, a single pink-flowering tree|ja looking onto a courtyard, illustration 吉田家住宅 中庭.jpg|alt=A garden courtyard with an ja about 30 cm above the pale gravel, feature stones, a rain chain, and a planting of bamboo, ferns, grasses, and a creeping plant with small round leaves.|Low ja running around a ja courtyard, 2012 File:Japanese House - Engawa.jpg|After rain; the eaves have kept the ja mostly dry, and the ja has kept the foundations of the house quite dry.

Cultural role

ja are often proportioned so that one can sit on the edge and observe the garden. They provide a space for playing children and casual visitors.

An ja is part of the house, and shoes are therefore not worn on it. Guests' shoes are lined up pointing outwards.

While ja declined with the Westernization of Japanese architecture,

File:Expo 2005 of Satsuki and Mei’s House 15.jpg|Cushions on an ja protected by sliding glass doors. Note ja, stone step. File:Jonge vrouw met lantaarn-Rijksmuseum RP-P-1956-612.jpeg|An ja is part of the house, and shoes are therefore not worn on it. File:Erinji garden and Corridors.JPG|An ja overlooking Erin-ji Gardens. File:Bewonderen van bloemstukken-Rijksmuseum RP-P-1961-30.jpeg|An ja can open the house to the surrounding landscape. File:SHUNSHO-3-women.jpg|Socializing on an ja. File:Three children drawing, (on panels), Japan, 1909 LCCN2001705661.tif|Children playing on an ja; they are drawing on the ja. Note shoes on ja. File:『雨過洗庭之図』-A Garden Refreshed by the Passing Rain (Ukasentei no zu) MET DP147704.jpg|Traditional ja in fancier buildings often have low railings, for leaning on while sitting on the ja. Westernization of clothing made sitting on the floor difficult; modern ja often have standing-height railings File:Tashiro_Family's_Old_Residence_03.jpg|Left, an ja running between buildings, joining them. File:Korshagenhus 2.jpg|Modern ja in Denmark.

References

References

1. {{cite encyclopedia. [[Shougakukan]]. (1995)
2. "Shoji Screens".
3. A., Kester, Jeffery. (18 March 2017). "The Kester House & Garden".
4. Edward S. Morse. (1885). "Japanese Homes and their Surroundings".
5. "The definition of engawa".
6. "Engawa 縁側". Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.
7. "En 縁". Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.
8. "Nure-en 濡縁". Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.
9. "Ochi-en 落縁". Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.
10. "Shinden-zukuri 寝殿造". Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.
11. "Hisashi 廂". Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.
12. (15 January 2015). "ELEMENTS - The Engawa". Archiscapes.
13. Duits, Kjeld. (14 June 2008). "1890s • Woman in Room". Old Photos of Japan.
14. Reinholdt, Eric. (9 December 2014). "Design Workshop: How the Japanese Porch Makes a Home Feel Larger". Houzz.
15. Edward S. Morse. (1885). "Japanese Homes and their Surroundings".

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