Kura: Traditional Japanese Storehouses that Bring Appeal to Cities
Top-left: Photo courtesy of the Koedo Kawagoe Tourist Association. Top-right: Photo courtesy of Kurashiki City. Bottom: Photo courtesy of Kitakata Kura-no-Kai.
In some areas of Japan with old-established families, you may see a type of traditional Japanese building called a kura (literally, “storehouse”) that remains standing to this day. In general, the term “kura” refers to storehouses for safely depositing precious family assets, and products, as well as harvested rice or other grains. The style of construction for these storehouses is called “dozo-zukuri” in Japanese, and this style has been used for houses, stores, and other buildings as well. These constructions have beautiful exteriors, which have earned them popularity as photo spots for making posts on social media. Let’s take a look at some topics related to cities with charming kura.
About Kura
Kura literally means “storehouse” and generally refers to a type of traditional Japanese building used to safely deposit precious family assets, and products, as well as harvested rice or other grains. The style of construction for these storehouses is called “dozo-zukuri” or “kura-zukuri” in Japanese, and is notably famous as a traditional Japanese architectural format. These buildings are made by first creating a framework of wooden pillars and beams, then covering the timber with thick earthen walls on the exterior, before finally coating the walls with plaster. These walls are created by craftsmen, and some are around a whole foot in thickness. Kura have excellent fire resistance as well, owing to the non-flammable earthen walls surrounding them. With this dozo-zukuri construction, kura spread widely as a type of fire-resistant building in Edo (currently the capital of Tokyo) and other areas across Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868) when Edo suffered many major fires. Kura were used for other purposes; each with its own name, such as zashiki-gura (houses), mise-gura (stores), and jozo-gura (fermenting facilities used for making sake or soy sauce).
A Mise-gura with Excellent Fire-resistant Properties in Kawagoe City
Left: The Osawa-ke Residence, an important cultural property (built in 1792). Constructed in Edo, this is the oldest merchant store created in the kura-zukuri style. It even survived a major fire in 1893.
Right: Two types of decorative tiles at the edge of the roof’s ridge. The large black tile here is called an “oni-gawara” (literally, “demon tile”) and typically features the face of an oni or other ferocious beast as a charm to ward off fires. The gray material around it is another type of decoration called “kagemori” which has a plaster finish. (Photos courtesy of NPO KAWAGOE KURA NO KAI (© Aramaki Sumikazu))
Left: The stepped pattern on the doors here seal the openings on the buildings and block airflow to prevent the spread of fire.
Right: The long, square pole with a light-gray color below the windows and behind the building’s sign is called a “menuri-dai.” This has been installed so that artisans can climb on it to close the windows and use clay to seal the minute gaps that remain, in the event of a fire. (Photos courtesy of NPO KAWAGOE KURA NO KAI (© Aramaki Sumikazu))
Appealing Cities That Feature Kura Buildings
There are still some cities across Japan with historic landscapes including appealing kura. Many of these cities were renewed in the 1970s following drastic changes in people’s lifestyles, with old buildings being replaced by modern constructions. However, the remaining kura are the result of strong desires among people in the local area to preserve these historic streets. Through careful efforts to restore and preserve these beautiful kura-zukuri buildings, the cities that house them have been rated highly on social media, which has earned them popularity among people visiting Japan from abroad as well.
Introducing the Three Big Kura Cities in Japan
Kawagoe City is in Saitama Prefecture next to Tokyo Prefecture. This city features streets that preserve traditional kura-zukuri buildings evoking the atmosphere from Japan’s old capital of Edo that previously had many kura standing side by side. As such, Kawagoe City is known as “Little Edo.” The city had frequent trade with Edo, and so it has many mise-gura stores. Another iconic aspect of the city is its many kura with an elegant appearance created by coating the white plastered walls with an extra layer of black plaster.
Left: An Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. This location features many merchant stores created in the kura-zukuri style, resembling the streets of Tokyo before the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923).
Right: The Kawagoe Kurazukuri Museum, which utilizes a mise-gura store originally built in 1893. (Photos courtesy of NPO KAWAGOE KURA NO KAI (© Aramaki Sumikazu))
The buildings in the kura-zukuri style within Kawagoe are highly popular as tourist attractions as well. You can enjoy the atmosphere of historical Edo by wearing a kimono while riding a traditional rickshaw, or “jinrikisha” in Japanese. You can also tour jozo-gura used for making soy sauce, or taste the green tea and sweet potatoes that are both specialties of the area. This region is also home to active product development. For example, one brand of craft beer made with a rare type of sweet potato became a hit product.
People riding a jinrikisha as they enjoy the area around Kawagoe’s iconic Toki no Kane (Time Bell Tower). (Photos courtesy of the Koedo Kawagoe Tourist Association)
Left: People on a tour in a soy sauce kura.
Right: A large vat being stirred inside a soy sauce kura. The vat contains a mixture called “moromi” made by fermenting ingredients as part of the soy sauce production process. (Photos courtesy of the Koedo Kawagoe Tourist Association)
A mise-gura store that lets you experience matcha—one aspect of Japan’s traditional culture. (Photos courtesy of the Koedo Kawagoe Tourist Association)
A café that was created by renovating a mise-gura store. This location serves green tea as well as sweets made with matcha. (Photos courtesy of the Koedo Kawagoe Tourist Association)
Kurashiki City is in Okayama Prefecture, which faces the Seto Inland Sea beside Honshu. This city has an area that is popular among tourists called the Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter with many beautiful kura that almost look like a movie set. The area of Kurashiki was under the sea 400 years ago, but the foundations of a textile industry were built there in the Edo period. As a result, the city came to be home to many townhouses called machiya as well as kura. These white-walled buildings are mainly located along the Kurashiki River, which was used to transport Bichu cotton and other goods.One elegant and well-received activity in the area is to ride a boat along the river while looking up at the kura in the streets.
An area designated by the Japanese government as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. The streets of Kurashiki have a beautiful harmony between the Japanese architecture of kura built between the 1600s and 1800s and the modern Western architecture of buildings erected in the latter half of the 1800s. (Photos courtesy of Kurashiki City)
The kura of Kurashiki have a distinctive feature that can still be clearly seen today: a type of wall called “namako-kabe.” This is created by placing square tiles on the exterior wall of a building and using plaster to fill in the joints between them. Namako-kabe have a beautiful contrast between the bright white of the plaster and the color of the tiles, bringing them popularity on social media. Many cafés, inns, and other establishments are opening in rapid succession in renovated kura and machiya. Eateries that serve parfaits and afternoon tea using fruit produced in Okayama Prefecture, stores that offer iconic products from Kurashiki as the origin of Japanese-made jeans, and other establishments using these buildings help bring people to streets with kura in the area.
Beautiful views of the city with “namako-kabe.” These walls are popular for their photogenic look. (Photos courtesy of Kurashiki City)
The Kurashiki Museum of Folkcraft was built by renovating rice storehouse dating from 1750 to 1850. It is the second museum in Japan dedicated to folkcraft. (Photos courtesy of Kurashiki City)
Afternoon tea in Kurashiki is popular with people who enjoy making posts on social media, and the city’s jeans stores are a hit with the younger generation as well. (Photos courtesy of Kurashiki City)
Kitakata City is in Fukushima Prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan. Surrounded by mountains, the area sees heavy snowfall. The city has prospered in growing rice as well as the fermentation industry, including sake brewing, owing to the high-quality water that can be obtained from melted snow. Many kura have been built in the area as an optimal way to store and preserve these products. Some 4,000 kura are present in the city, and they still play an active part in people’s lives today as they blend into the city’s urban and agricultural areas.
Left: Fields beside an unpretentious kura.
Right: The kura in Kitakata are warm indoors, even when snow falls outside. (Photos courtesy of the KITAKATA Tourist Product Association)
Another iconic aspect of the city is its many “zashiki-gura” in which people live. These houses have thick walls that are ideal for living in snowy areas, and any luxurious facilities inside them can be hidden by their unpretentious exterior walls. As such, they are a symbol of pride for merchants who have amassed wealth. The Otazuki area of this city was designated as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings by the Japanese government in 2018, and it features historic buildings created in the kura-zukuri style. The city also has over 100 buildings called “renga-gura” (literally, “brick storehouses”) that incorporate Western construction techniques while also utilizing the traditional approaches and technologies of kura-zukuri from Kitakata. These buildings are beautiful additions to the cityscape.
Left: Buildings in the kura-zukuri style within the Otazuki area.
Right: The main hall of the former Kai-ke residence, which was built 100 years ago. (Photos courtesy of the KITAKATA Tourist Product Association)
A renga-gura in Kitakata with a beautiful exterior featuring bricks coated in glaze. The interior of the building frame is constructed with wooden beams surrounded by bricks in the Kitakata style. The roofing material was produced using Japanese tiles. In this way, the construction is a mixture of Japanese and Western methods. (Photos courtesy of the KITAKATA Tourist Product Association)
The kura of Kitakata had a surge in popularity during the 1980s, and this sparked popularity of “Kitakata ramen” among visitors. “Yamato soba” is another local specialty dish. Also, a long-running rice cracker store has attracted attention by opening an inn in 2023 using a kura built 120 years ago, with the aim to help people experience kura in a more close-up and familiar way.
Kitakata ramen featuring its distinct thick wavy noodles in a soy-sauce-based broth, and a ramen shrine that also serves food and drink. (Photos courtesy of the KITAKATA Tourist Product Association)
A local dish of soba noodles that go down smoothly, and an old-fashioned restaurant. (Photos courtesy of the KITAKATA Tourist Product Association)
The first kura-yado in the city—an inn using a kura building. (Photos courtesy of KURA HOTEL MARUTOKO)
When you visit Japan, why not enjoy taking a tour through some cities with kura that have gained new appeal while preserving these traditional buildings?