Namako wall or Namako-kabe (sometimes misspelled as Nameko) is a Japanese wall design widely used for vernacular houses, particularly on fireproof storehouses by the latter half of the Edo period. The namako wall is distinguished by a white grid pattern on black slate. Geographically, it was most prominent in parts of western Japan, notably the San'in region and San'yō region and, from the 19th century, further east, in the Izu Peninsula

Izu Peninsula

The is a large mountainous peninsula with deeply indented coasts to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of the island of Honshū, Japan. Formerly the eponymous Izu Province, Izu peninsula is now a part of Shizuoka Prefecture...

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Origin

As the base of the external walls of earthen kura storehouses are vulnerable to physical damage and damage from rain, they are often tiled to protect them. The exaggerated white clay joints that are a few centimetres wide and rounded on top remind people of namako Sea cucumber

Sea cucumber

Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea.They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. There are a number of holothurian species and genera, many of which are targeted...

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Modern uses

During the Meiji period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

 (1868-1912) when Japan imported many Western ideas, the namako wall was used in a way that mimicked the "bricks and mortar" style of these countries. For example, Kisuke Shimizu's Tsukiji Hotel for foreigners in Tokyo Bay

Tokyo Bay

is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...

 (completed in 1868) had namako walls that stretched from the ground to the eaves

Eaves

The eaves of a roof are its lower edges. They usually project beyond the walls of the building to carry rain water away.-Etymology:"Eaves" is derived from Old English and is both the singular and plural form of the word.- Function :...

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