Home/Hiroshima/Fuchu/Joge White Wall Street

Joge White Wall Street

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Jogewhite wallsSekishu roadshogunal territoryFuchu

Illustration of Joge White Wall Street, Hiroshima — Illustration — not a photograph

What Joge White Wall Street looked like originally and what it looks like now are two different stories — both worth knowing before you arrive.

Joge sat on the Sekishu road between the Sea of Japan side and the Inland Sea, and in the Edo period it was made a shogunal territory and given a magistrate's outpost of the Iwami Ginzan silver administration. Money moved through it, and the merchants who handled the money built in white plaster with namako-kabe lattice tiling and heavy latticed windows.

The main street still has them, and the town's landmark is a Christian church converted from the storehouse of the Sumikura family, a merchant house of the period — a white-walled kura with a bell tower stuck on it. Also on the street is Okinaza, a wooden theatre of the Taisho era. Joge Station is on the Fukuen Line and the street begins three minutes' walk from it.

What to know before you go

When to go

Year-round

Opening hours

Streets open at all times | Individual buildings have their own arrangements

Closed: Streets open year-round

Time to allow

60–90 minutes

Fee

Free streets | Individual buildings may charge

How to reach it

Getting there in detail

Joge, Joge-cho, Fuchu, on the former Sekishu road. About 3–a short walk from Joge Station on the JR Fukuen Line, or by car. The streets are free to walk. The Joge Christian Church, converted from a former merchant storehouse, and the Okinaza wooden theatre stand on the main street; individual buildings keep their own opening arrangements — confirm locally before travelling.

Beyond the guidebook

**The church is a converted storehouse.** A white-walled merchant kura with a bell tower added. It is the town's emblem and it is on the main street. **Look for namako-kabe.** The diamond-lattice tiling in white plaster over black tile is the local wall treatment and it survives on several buildings here. **Three minutes from the station.** The Fukuen Line is slow and infrequent but it puts you at the top of the street, which is the right way to arrive. **Silver money built it.** Joge was a shogunal territory with an outpost of the Iwami Ginzan administration, which is why a small inland town has merchant architecture at this level. **Confirm what is open.** The theatre and several houses have limited or seasonal opening. The street itself is free and open at all times.

View on Google Maps