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context: architecture > origins
Early Housing
Houses started as pit dwellings with straw roofs. In the Yayoi period, around 2000 years ago, houses began to be built on pillars. None survive from that time, but clay models of houses do, and they show most of the elements that would persist already in place - wooden structures, post and lintel construction, with verandahs and overhanging roofs. At this time they were still thatched, but such roofing needed regular replacement and was a major fire risk, so these later began to be replaced by wooden shingles or tiling. Japan is a country with pretty extreme climate swings: the preference has always been to make buildings that can be opened wide to allow air to circulate in the hot summers, rather than to build to protect against the cold and snow of winter.