Podcast Summary:

Podcast: New Books Network / Nordic Asia Podcast
Episode: Machiya, Seikatsu Bunka, and Changing Domestic Culture in the Japanese Urban Environment
Date: December 15, 2025
Host: Julia Olsson
Guest: Dr. Chiara Rita Napolitano, JSPS Fellow, Kyoto University

Overview

This episode delves into the evolving domestic culture of Japanese urban environments through the lens of machiya (traditional wooden townhouses) and seikatsu bunka (culture of everyday life). Host Julia Olsson interviews Dr. Chiara Rita Napolitano in her own machiya in Kyoto, discussing architectural changes, cleaning practices, notions of purity and pollution, and the intersection of these topics with social and political dynamics in contemporary Japan.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Definitions and Historical Context

• What is a Machiya?

  • Machiya refers to traditional wooden houses found in urban areas, especially Kyoto.
  • Post-1950, the term specifically indicates pre-Building Standard Act homes built from natural materials: wood, paper, stone, earth, etc.
  • Two subtypes:
    • Nagaya: Rowhouses, often humble residences of artisans and small merchants, multiple households under one roof.
    • Majestic Machiya: Larger, more affluent townhouses for wealthy merchant families.

• Quote:

  "Originally... machiya, especially in Kyoto, was just another word for house... but then the change in the urban landscape... started to be used as a specific terminology referring to wooden houses that were built before 1950."
  — Chiara (02:00)

• Seikatsu Bunka:

  • Translating as ‘culture of everyday life,’ this concept encompasses daily habits, cleaning rituals, spatial use, and the evolving meanings attached to domestic spaces.

2. Living in a Machiya: Everyday Realities

• Machiya life involves close proximity to neighbors and the natural world (including frequent insects and occasional mice).

• Cleaning practices are shaped by acceptance of dirt/nature as a cycle—not purely as something to be eradicated.

• Quote:

  "People living in traditional environment are more used to a notion of cleanness... not necessarily in opposition to dirtiness, but it's more like a cycle, a cycle of life."
  — Chiara (07:11)

3. Impact of Modernity & COVID-19 on Cleaning Habits

• COVID-19 prompted changes in cleaning routines, with comparison between families in machiya and those in modern apartments.

• Modern attitudes often stigmatize machiya as “dirty” or “unsafe,” contributing to challenges in their preservation.

• Quote:

  "Machiya... have been labeled as dirty and unsafe in the past 30 years... compared to modern houses that have artificial materials or concrete."
  — Chiara (07:56)

4. Community Cleaning Practices & Social Bonds

• Kadohaki: Sweeping the shared thresholds between homes—a ritual gesture of care for the community.

• Cleaning extends beyond personal hygiene, reinforcing relationships and shared social responsibilities.

• Quote:

  "Kadohaki is basically the sweeping of the front door, but not just your portion... to say, 'I care about not only me, but I care about you too.'"
  — Chiara (09:33)

• Connections between impurity (kegare) and collective responsibility—funerals, childbirth, and illness historically fostered communal responses to 'pollution'.

5. Kegare: Purity, Pollution, and Discrimination

• The concept of kegare (pollution/impurity) shaped cleaning rituals and societal norms:

  • Historically linked to bodily functions and social exclusion (ex: discrimination against burakumin/outcast groups).

• Contemporary shift: The religious aspect is downplayed, yet spatial and social dimensions persist.

• Clean/dirty labels today can echo old forms of discrimination, with modern examples like xenophobic rhetoric targeting foreigners as "dirty".

• Quote:

  "The idea of someone being dirty is still something that has to do with... discrimination. And this... has been inherited by the idea of Kegare."
  — Chiara (15:25)

6. What Has Changed with Modern Living?

• Significant architectural changes:

  • Bathrooms/toilets, previously outside and separate, are now integrated for practicality.
  • Rituals like benjo mairi (introducing a newborn to the toilet deity) have disappeared, reflecting new notions of cleanliness and purification.

• Social changes:

  • Increased emphasis on privacy; neighbors less likely to enter each other's homes uninvited.
  • Fear of judgment for one's cleanliness has grown, especially in modern living.

• Quotes:

  "Bathrooms... they were not present in Nagaya... you would have them in the garden because the idea of dirty was especially strong..."
  — Chiara (18:41)
  "People are less and less inclined to let other people, visitors inside their house... fear of being judged for their cleaning habits."
  — Chiara (22:59)

7. Spatial Arrangements and Social Dynamics

• Traditional homes had clearly separated "guest" and "family" spaces; modern apartments lack these zones, impacting hospitality practices and reinforcing privacy.
• Some neighborhoods still maintain older customs, like leaving doors open, particularly in less touristy or more rural areas of Kyoto.

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Machiya's Social Value:

  "Cleaning in general had a social value... not only with the interior of the house... but with the maintaining of relationship inside the community..." (10:13)

• On Discrimination Through Cleanliness:

  "The idea of someone being clean or dirty has become the tool to discriminate or accept someone inside society." (13:57)

• On Changing Rituals:

  "[Benjo mairi]... presenting the child to this deity was a way to assure that... they would grow up to be pure... that everything, even dirtiness, was part of everyday life..." (20:34)

Important Timestamps

• [01:15] — Dr. Napolitano introduces her research on machiya and seikatsu bunka
• [06:10] — COVID-19’s impact on cleaning habits in machiya vs. modern homes
• [09:14] — Importance and practice of kadohaki (communal sweeping)
• [13:43] — Kegare’s social and political dimensions; legacy in discrimination
• [17:58] — Persisting traditions; change in rituals and spatial divisions
• [20:34] — Loss of rituals like benjo mairi
• [24:46] — Evolution in how space is used to host guests, privacy concerns
• [27:58] — Host teases follow-up episode on tourism’s effect on local culture
• [28:38] — Dr. Napolitano shares publications and research projects

Publications & Further Resources

• Recent contribution (in Italian) in Meridiani Mappe Intersezioni e Orientamenti (2022)
• Upcoming chapter in Copernicus Institute's volume New Insight through the Vision of the Old
• Contributions to "More than Kyoto Research Project" (modern Kyoto challenges, punk culture, etc.)
• Contact: LinkedIn (to be linked in episode notes)

Closing Notes

This episode offers a nuanced exploration of how architectural traditions, domestic rituals, and cultural values shape—and are shaped by—contemporary Japanese life. Dr. Napolitano’s work highlights the fluid boundaries between past and present, personal and communal, clean and impure—a fascinating perspective for anyone interested in Japanese urban anthropology or the lived experience of Kyoto’s historic neighborhoods.