Kura: Japanese Traditional Warehouses in Shizuoka Prefecture 4

“Kura” (in japanese 蔵 or 倉) means “warehouse” or “Storehouse”.
In traditonal Japan, especially during the Edo Era, as most of buildings and urba/village structures were made of wood, fires were the bane of society by and large.
However well-protected a fire would consume a house or buildings and all its properties within minutes.
Hence a special building or warehouse was needed to protect goods and properties against such a catastrophe.
But erecting a storehouse solely made of concrete, stones and some metal cost a vast amount of silver and gold and only rich merchants and nobility could afford them. Even castles could not be built entirely of stone then.

I discovered this small kura on my way from Okitsu JR Station to Seikenji Temple in Okitsu, Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka City!

With farmers around this old small kura partly invaded by ivy is probably used as shed!

Actually considering the big property where it sits, it might be oned by a nearby temple!

Interestingly enough, although I cycle past at least 4 times a day I never noticed this big kura along the Kitakaido Street in Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City!

A friend of mine had to remind me of its existence!
It is located behind a tall building with a large soba/buckwheat noodles restaurant on the ground floor.
You still have to turn into a narrow street to find it behind the restaurant building!

It is extremely well preserved. The walls are regularly repainted and the steel support protected from the rust!

Splendid side/end window!
Usually kuras have windows on one facade and another one at one extremity!

This one has another door through the back facade and a kind of wooden awning which could have been used to hang drying fruit or vegetables under a long time ago!

The front facades windows are absolutely splendid especially when they are kept open!

Note the “hooks” in their middle to pull them shut and the heavily barred window!
I very much doubt that a thief would be able to break in, even now!

The same friend told me that there should still be a lot of more kuras in the country along the Kano River in Numazu City as people in old times used to take refuge into them during floods!

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