Talk:Minka

PLEASE DO NOT RE-MOVE THIS ARTICLE!
I have disambiguated and moved the article on the model and porn star to Minka (model), and should think that this should be a perfectly fine compromise. If you think it should be organized otherwise, such as by moving my article to Minka (architecture) and creating a simple disambig page for the two articles, that's fine with me. But PLEASE initiate a discussion before deleting or re-moving my article. Thank you. LordAmeth 16:39, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Why are we sourcing another encyclopædia? Isn't that a no-no? -- Joe Beaudoin Jr. Think out loud 21:33, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Thank you for pointing that out. I was not aware of the WP:RS page. However, according to that page:

"A recent trend is a proliferation of specialized encyclopedias on historical topics. These are edited by experts who commission scholars to write the articles, and then review each article for quality control. They can be considered authoritative for Wikipedia."
 * So, the Kodansha Encylopedia of Japan, as a specialized encyclopedia on Japanese subjects, written by experts in the field and edited, organized and published by one of the top publishing houses in Japan, should be alright. Thanks again, though. I really hadn't known about that. LordAmeth 23:28, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

What are Minka?
I wonder if the topic sentence to this article is really accurate.


 * Minka (民家, literally house(s) of the people) are residences in the traditional styles of Japanese peasants.

The min of minka here simply means private (as opposed to public or government) and is not limited to the homes of peasants. In fact, in modern Japanese, minka most commonly refers to traditional homes more than 100 years old, most of which were the residences of merchants or landowners, not peasants. I'm not all that familiar with Ainokura myself, but I wonder if peasant is really the right term to characterize the people who lived in these homes. I suspect that either farmers or villagers would be a better choice, and that a general definition might be: Minka (民家, literally house(s) of the people) are private residences constructed in any one of several traditional styles of Japanese building.

Anyway, I will wait a bit to see if anyone has a strong opinion one way or the other before revising this sentence sometime in the near future.

Spventi 05:09, 27 February 2007 (UTC)


 * You make a good point, and the word "peasant" (農夫? 農奴?) may not be the best one to use. But I think it's quite important to keep in mind the unique styles of home that the word minka refers to - it's not just any 国民の家, not just any "house of the people". Even if we have to rename the article entirely, I think it's important that we continue to restrict it to those houses of that particular style epitomized by Shirakawa and Gokayama, or that we very clearly define separate styles in our discussion. (I apologize if that's a bit hard to follow. Hopefully you get what I mean.) LordAmeth 09:22, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

I can follow your logic, but you seem to misunderstand what Minka is; clearly it is not just the gasshō-zukuri of Shirakawa and Gokayama, and to be accurate and complete, this article must also include equally detailed information about gyoka and machiya. In any case, I am not suggesting that we rename the article, but rather that the second paragraph, Types of Minka, actually makes a better introduction than the present one. Perhaps the best thing at some point in the future would be to simplify the content of this article and create a new article for gasshō-zukuri. Anyway, I'll do what I think needs to be done (without removing any of the current content) later this week, and we can iron out any wrinkles as necessary. Spventi 01:08, 1 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Sounds good to me. As you seem to be more interested in the subject - and more knowledgeable on it - than myself, please do go ahead and make whatever changes or additions you think necessary. LordAmeth 10:03, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I happened upon this article recently only because I was translating a brochure promoting tourism to Gokayama. I'm not really that knowledgeable about it, but I just got a crash course, so to speak. Anyway, I've made the changes that I felt were appropriate, and also done a bit of editing to make the terminology consistent throughout. Feel free to adjust it, as necessary. Spventi 01:46, 2 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your hard work. LordAmeth 09:19, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Wrong Wikipedia Link German
the german wikipedia link is directing to a completly unrelated article about Mink'a (a type of traditional communal work in the Andes)... requesting removal — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.10.22.120 (talk) 10:53, 13 March 2015 (UTC)