Engawa

An engawa at Kinugawa Kan runs along the outside of one of the guest rooms, the timber-floored corridor opening through sliding doors to the room on one side and to the river-gorge view on the other. The engawa floor is hardwood, dust-coated and damp in patches. A sofa sits against the wall on the room side, its cushions still in place, with a glass ashtray on the air-conditioning unit beside it. The wall behind the sofa is wallpapered; the wallpaper has water-damage streaks running down from the ceiling and is peeling away in long curls at the seams. The shoji panels along the outer side of the engawa are partly damaged, with daylight coming through where the paper has gone.

Engawa are the verandah-like timber corridors that run along the outer edge of Japanese ryokan rooms, traditionally used as a transitional space between the tatami interior and the garden or view beyond. At Kinugawa Kan the engawa ran along the river side of the building, giving each room a small outer sitting area facing the gorge. Kinugawa Kan opened in December 1942 and ran for over five decades before entering business suspension in June 1999 with debts of around 3 billion yen. Formal closure followed in 2005. The room and its engawa have been sealed since.