While I was wondering in Kyoto my attention attracted buildings with small, deep-set windows with heavy cement shutters. Windows of this design called takamado are unique to the kura (storehouse). Build as separate structure of the machiya, or city merchant house, they was used to protect valuables from fire, in particular.
This distinctive architectural form based on the unit of single tatami mat (around 90cmx180cm) emerged in Edo period, which spanned more than 250 years from 1603 to 1867.
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