“Kura” (in Japanese 蔵 or 倉) means “warehouse” or “Storehouse”.
In traditional Japan, especially during the Edo Era, as most of buildings and urba/village structures were made of wood, fires were the bane of society by and large.
However well-protected a fire would consume a house or buildings and all its properties within minutes.
Hence a special building or warehouse was needed to protect goods and properties against such a catastrophe.
But erecting a storehouse solely made of concrete, stones and some metal cost a vast amount of silver and gold and only rich merchants and nobility could afford them. Even castles could not be built entirely of stone then.
I found this comparatively middle-sized kura in Kanaya, Shimada City during my recent Tea Festival coverage!
It looked old enough although in good repair. Only the windows showed its age as the concept of the walls in base stones and and hard concrete block made it very resistant!
An old Japanese talkative lady very proud of the more than the 90 years she lived in the city informed us that this kura was owned by the Matsumura Family apparently the richest in Kanaya.
Since she told us she used to play nearby as a kid we can imagine the age of the edifice!
A very sturdy and well-maintained kura still used as a shed!
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Navigating Nagoya by Paige, Shop with Intent by Debbie, BULA KANA in Fiji, Kraemer’s Culinary blog by Frank Kraemer in New York,Tokyo Food File by Robbie Swinnerton, Green Tea Club by Satoshi Nihonyanagi in Shizuoka!, Mind Some by Tina in Taiwan, Le Manger by Camille Oger (French), The Indian Tourist, Masala Herb by Helene Dsouza in Goa, India, Mummy I Can Cook! by Shu Han in London, Pie
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HIGHOCTANE/HAIOKU by Nick Itoh in Shizuoka City
SHIZUOKA TOURISM 
On a previous Tokyo visit, Barbie and I toured the Fire Museum there. It was told how a primary way of fighting major urban fires was to demolish whole rows of housing blocks ahead of the blaze. to escape with family treasures, the less-rich would keep or load them into a wheeled wooden chest and pull it to the nearest open area ahead of the fire’s arrival at their address. So another benefit, for those that could afford them, of the kura, was that one could keep those treasures, business goods, and other wealth inside, and not have to try to haul them away, knowing that since kura don’t burn and so, contribute no fuel to the blaze, the firemen wouldn’t feel the need to tear them down. So, after the fire, they not only continued keeping the material items safe, but also could serve as on-site shelter for the family while they rebuilt their dwellings…