dirt floor; earthen floor room
Traditional Japanese architectural feature: an unpaved earthen floor area at the entrance of a house, or a room with such a floor, used for cooking, work, or as a transition space.
古い家の土間にはかまどがあった。
In the earthen-floor area of the old house, there was a cooking stove.
玄関を入るとすぐ土間になっている。
Just inside the entrance, there is an earthen floor area.
pit; parterre
In theater, the ground-level seating area in front of the stage, traditionally without chairs; equivalent to the pit or parterre in Western theaters.
歌舞伎の土間は立ち見が基本だった。
The pit in kabuki was basically standing room.
My mother stood on the earthen kitchen floor washing vegetables.
People in the old days watched plays from the pit seating.
I took off my shoes at the earthen floor and stepped up into the tatami room.
The guest stepped up from the earthen floor into the tatami room and sat down.