Kurayoshi White-Wall Storehouse District

A preserved Edo-period townscape in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture. Developed as a regional merchant town in Hida region, densely packed with merchant houses and warehouses from Edo through Meiji periods. Features distinctive gabled rooflines, unified eave heights, and blackened timber-clad facades. One of Japan's most highly regarded preserved townscapes.

One of the 69 post-stations along the Nakasendo route in Tsumago, Nagano. Original Edo-period inns, warehouses, and residences line a 700-meter stretch of the historic road. Since the 1970s, the community has pursued comprehensive preservation while maintaining residential continuity rather than commodification, establishing a distinctive conservation methodology.

A group of Edo and Meiji-period white-plaster buildings preserved in Kurashiki's Bikan District, Okayama. Along the Asahi River, merchant houses, storehouses, and townhouses with lime-plaster white walls form a cohesive townscape. About 450 historic structures exist within a 1.2km radius. Designated as Japan's first Important Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings in 1979, it is highly valued for its beautiful white walls and exemplary conservation practices.

Traditional wooden townhouse architecture found in Japanese cities, particularly Kyoto. Characterized by their narrow frontage and deep interior, nicknamed 'eel beds,' they incorporate torinawa passages and tsuboniwa courtyard gardens to bring in light and air. In recent years, preservation and renovation efforts have intensified, with many repurposed as cafes and accommodations.

A Japanese residential architectural style that developed in the Muromachi period. Featuring tokonoma alcoves, chigai-dana shelves, tsuke-shoin desks, and shoji screens, its tatami-floored rooms became the prototype for modern Japanese rooms. Ginkaku-ji's Togudo is an early representative, defining the aesthetics and formality of Japanese living spaces.

An architectural style based on tatami mats, characteristic floor coverings in Japanese architecture. Rectangular woven coverings made from rice straw and rush grass, they serve as the standard for interior space. Room size is expressed in tatami units, symbolizing fusion of Japanese architectural aesthetics and lifestyle culture, still maintained as fundamental to modern washitsu.