Namakowall orNamako-kabe (sometimes misspelled asNameko) is aJapanese wall design widely used forvernacular houses, particularly on fireproof storehouses by the latter half of theEdo period.^[1] Thenamako wall is distinguished by a white grid pattern on blackslate. Geographically, it was most prominent in parts of western Japan, notably theSan'in region andSan'yō region and, from the 19th century, further east, in theIzu Peninsula.^[1]

As the base of the external walls of earthenkura storehouses is 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 ofnamakosea cucumber.^[2]

During theMeiji period (1868–1912), when Japan imported many Western ideas, thenamako 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 inTokyo Bay (completed in 1868) hadnamako walls that stretched from the ground to theeaves.^[3]

TheMisono-zakabuki theatre in Nagoya features a modernnamako pattern on the facade.

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  Blue-grey-purple tiles, plain, in an outdoor dado
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  Kura (storehouse) in Tsuyama on the Izumo Kaido road showing diagonalnamako tiling
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  Wall of thePontochō Kaburenjō Theater in Kyoto
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  Namako wall in Matsuzaki, Shizuoka
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  Keio GijyukuEnzetsu kan (Speech hall)

• Japanese wall

• Itō, Teiji (1980).Kura: Design and Tradition of the Japanese Storehouse. Madrona Publishers.
• Stewart, David B. (2002).The Making of a Modern Japanese Architecture, from the Founders to Shinohara and Isozaki. Kodansha International.

• Media related toNamako wall at Wikimedia Commons

• Architectural elements
• Architecture in Japan
• Types of wall

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Commons category link from Wikidata