History

Sometime in the 8th century, Japanese aristocrats began building houses for distinction. There houses were called shinden-zukuri. Its beautiful house with long hallways that stood in the middle of a very large garden.  Many of the upper class particularly enjoyed the beauty of nature in the comforts of their home.

The Samurais in the ancient days also built their own distinctive houses. Called, shoin-zukuri, these are basically temple like structures, deriving its influence from Zen Buddhism. The main feature of this house is the shoin, or the study alcove, where art objects are displayed.

Common people lived in a gassho-styled house. These are farm houses, still existing today in the province of Kyoto. A gassho-styled house enables farmers to keep their cattles indoors.