Fukiya Furusato Mura

Fukiya Furusato Mura

At the Fukiya Furusato Mura, the splendid townscape of Fukiya spreads before your eyes. Here, you will see houses all with copper-colored Sekishu roof tiles and Bengara-colored (reddish pigment made by using iron oxide) walls standing next to each other in an orderly fashion. This townscape is the greatest cultural asset handed down to posterity by the wealthy residents of the Fukiya area who lived here in the 19th Century. Beautiful mansions built by wealthy merchants can be found everywhere in the country. However, what makes the townscape of Fukiya different from all others is that each of the buildings was not made to compete for luxuriousness or splendor. Rather, the owners of the respective houses discussed with each other to build a town that was based on a unified concept. Then, they hired specialists in the construction of shrines and temples from Sekishu (present Shimane Prefecture) to actualize their plan. This kind of an idea was amazingly advanced back in those days. In 1977, the Agency for Cultural Affairs designated Fukiya Furusato Mura as the country's preservation district of important traditional structures.