一The Machiya
A hundred years, an eel's bed
Narrow at the street, long toward the back — we kept the machiya as it was, the Kyoto "eel's bed." The building is over a century old, once a seller of dried goods; light still drops in through the mushiko lattice window.
Past the earthen entry come the tatami rooms, and deeper still a storehouse and a detached private room. The bowls are Shigaraki ware. This is a place to spend a slow Kyoto afternoon — in no hurry at all.
Eel's bed
the deep, narrow machiya plan
Mushiko window
soft light through the upper lattice
Shigaraki ware
warm clay, held in the hand