九く尺しゃく二に間けん

noun

tiny house about nine feet wide and twelve feet deep

Historical term for a very small, humble dwelling. The name comes from the dimensions: 九尺 (about 2.7 m) frontage and 二間 (about 3.6 m) depth. Used in contexts describing old Edo-period tenements or modest homes.

• 江え戸ど時じ代だい、貧まずしい人ひと々びとは九く尺しゃく二に間けんの長なが屋やに住すんでいた。

  In the Edo period, poor people lived in tiny tenement houses called kushaku niken.