In ancient times, Japanese people entrusted themselves to mother earth and for a long time lived in houses with earthen floors. They dug down a little below the surface of the ground and put a roof up above this, to make pit dwellings. They made warehouses with floors high off the ground to store food, in order to protect it from the damp. Pillars were sunk into the ground to support these structures.

Shrines to worship the gods and treasure houses to store sacred treasures were also built with raised floors.

Finally people also began to live in houses built on stilts. Pillars were erected, walls made and roofs put on.

Houses were for sleeping, resting and sheltering from the wind and the rain. The daylight hours were spent outside, working and playing. People lived in the arms of nature and face to face with her.

When they started living in comfortably floored dwellings, the amount of time spent indoors gradually increased. However, people have continued to design their houses so that they can face the outdoors with nature in their hearts.