Measure and Construction of the Japanese House

If you're looking for detailed information on the design and building techniques used in Japanese houses, Measure and Construction of the Japanese House by Heino Engel is the book for you. It features a multitude of floorplans and drawings of construction details.

The author does a fine job of presenting traditional Japanese home plans. He shows the dimensions of the typical components, and how they fit together. Read how tatami mats are used to designate room size and see floor plans of standard room units. Drawings of structural framework, simple foundations and fragile shoji screens are fascinating and intricately beautiful in their own way.

Many of the Japanese house floor plans presented are tiny -- beginning at 355 square feet. It's interesting to learn how multi-functional rooms made these small homes useful for a family of 4. Verandas, tea rooms, shoji, picture recesses and tatami are only a few of the famous characteristics of Japanese homes. You may want to incorporate them in your own house plans after you've read this book.

Measure and Construction of the Japanese House is just about the perfect book about the subject for my taste. You can have your fancy picture books -- I like the detail given here by Heino Engel.