Kurazukuri District (Japanese: 蔵造りの町並み) or Kurazukuri no Machinami is located in Kawagoe (川越) City, Saitama (埼玉) Prefecture, Japan. Kurazukuri District provides a nostalgic scene from the Edo Period (江戶時代).
The Edo period (江戸時代) or Tokugawa period (徳川時代) is between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional feudal lords.
Time Bell Tower (時の鐘) is the landmark of Kurazukuri District, It is a 16 meters high three-story tower with a bell about 700 kg in weight.
The word ‘kura’ (蔵) means ‘warehouse’ in Japanese, and Kurazukuri are clay-walled warehouse-styled buildings that are constructed with an Edo architectural flavor.
In the past, Japanese cities consisted almost exclusively of wooden buildings, which made them vulnerable to fires. Kurazukuri construction was used both to make a structure fireproof and to secure it against intruders.
Most of the shops are selling local products or traditional handicrafts, the price is reasonable and most of the goods are made in Japan, it is a good place to buy souvenirs.
Kawagoe was an important commercial town supplying resources to Edo (江戶, present day Tokyo). Thanks to the thriving trade, many merchants built their stores in the Kurazukuri style.
