Monday, July 2, 2012

A Stone Bridge And A Stone Storehouse

More of Shikoku Mura exhibits. This time its the stone bridge and a stone storehouse.

The arched bridge was built in 1901 by Yonekichi and Yojiro and has a carp and a Chinese lion dog (karashishi) carved on the keystone. This is the only bridge in Japan to bear such design.
 
Traditional Japanese storehouses have mud clay walls finished with plaster. However, during the Meiji Period (1868 - 1912), brick contstruction for commercial buildings was promoted by the Government in Tokyo.This particular storehouse copies brick construction, substituting stone of a variety used for over 1,000 years in mausoleums. The floor inside was laid with brick.

Altogether, the storehouse is a rather interesting hybrid of East & West typical of Meiji period.

Judging from the storehouse, one can sense that a storehouse is waaaaay more important (seeing that it's clay/brick made) than a personal dwelling. After all, one's source of income are stored there. Got to protect those from the elements and from predators too (human and beast alike). No?

No comments:

Post a Comment