Nightingale floor
Nightingale floors (鴬張り or 鶯張り, uguisubari)
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The English name "nightingale" refers to the Japanese bush warbler, or uguisu, which is a type of bushtit or nightingale native to Japan.[2]
Etymology
Uguisu (鶯 or 鴬) refers to the Japanese bush-warbler. The latter segment bari (張り) comes from haru (張る), meaning "to stretch". Together this means "the sound of a Nightingale from the stretching/swelling/straining [of the floor]".
Construction
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The floors were made from dried boards. Upside-down V-shaped joints move within the boards when pressure is applied.[3]
Examples
The following locations incorporate nightingale floors:
- Nijō Castle, Kyoto
- Chion-in, Kyoto
- Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji, Kyoto
- Daikaku-ji, Kyoto
Modern influences and related topics
- Melody Road in Hokkaido, Wakayama, and Gunma
- Singing Road in Anyanag, Gyeonggi South Korea
- Civic Musical Road in Lancaster, California
Notes
- Mysterious Japan, nightingale Floor: Kyoto Japan
- A-Z Animals, "Uguisu" under "Animals".
- Japan-Guide.com, Nijo Castle under "Kyoto Travel: Nijo Castle".
References
- A-Z Animals. "Uguisi" under "Animals". (2008). accessed November 3, 2012. http://a-z-animals.com/animals/uguisu/.
- Bunt, Jonathan and Gillian Hall, ed. Oxford Beginner's Japanese Dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
- Henshall, Kenneth G. A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters. Vermont: Tuttle Publishing Company, 1998.
- Japan-guide.com. "Nijo Castle (Nihojo)" under "Kyoto Travel: Nijo Castle" (June 11, 2012). accessed November 3, 2012. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3918.html.
- Saiga-Jp.com. "Japanese Kanji Dictionary" under "Japanese Learning" (March 7, 2012). accessed November 4, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20101029180930/http://www.saiga-jp.com/kanji_dictionary.html.
- ZenGarden.org. "Nightingale Floor, 'Uguisu-bari' ( 鴬張り )" (2012). accessed September 24, 2012. http://www.zen-garden.org/html/page_nightingalefloor.htm.