| A board, usually of pine but sometimes Japanese
cedar, placed between a normal sized host's mat, *temaedatami
点前畳, and a smaller mat, *daimedatami
台目畳. The length of the board is about 95.45cm, the thickness about 4.5cm and the
width 45.5cm. Some boards, however, are only 24.2cm wide. It is found mainly in
tea ceremony rooms of 4 1/2 mats or smaller. Although it is not clear when this
board was first used, it was already in use in the Momoyama period (1568-1616).
It is believed to have been added to support the portable hearth, *furo
風炉, and various utensils. The *fukasanjou
深三畳 tea ceremony room, which was popular during the Momoyama period, used the
mukou-ita. By the late 16c, a 42cm square sunken fire-box began to be placed
next to the mukou-ita. Examples: Konnichi'an 今日庵 at Ura Senke 裏千家, Kyoto,
and Yoshino Dayuu Ihouan 吉野大夫遺芳庵 at Koudaiji 高台寺, Kyoto. |
