Tsubo-niwa
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A tsubo-niwa is a type of very small garden in Japan. Tsubo-niwa have been described as "quasi-indoor gardens", and are a key feature of some traditional Japanese homes, such as the machiya. They are
A tsubo-niwa is meant to be seen from indoors. Note sliding glass doors.
Straight-on view of the same garden. Note shitaji or renji windows, water basins, lanterns, and shade-loving plantings, including ferns, Soleirolia soleirolii, and a moss lawn.
The courtyard garden of a former geisha house (okiya) in Kanazawa, Ishikawa. The trees are covered with straw to protect them from the snow.
Courtiers around a tsubo-niwa, illustration from The Tale of Genji, Heian period (c. 1130)
Machiya
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Machiya are traditional wooden townhouses found throughout Japan and typified in the historical capital of Kyoto. Machiya and nōka constitute the two categories of Japanese vernacular architecture kno
Tsubo-niwa
…small garden in Japan. Tsubo-niwa have been described as "quasi-indoor gardens", and are a key feature of some traditional Japanese homes, such as the machiya (lit. 'townhouse'). They are valued for their beauty and for bringing nature into the building. Some tsubo-niwa are also impluviums that collect…
The Tōmatsu house from Funairi-chō, Nagoya, is an example of a large machiya.
Machiya façade in Kyoto
Old fabric shop in Nara
Hibukuro over the tōriniwa