The stonework and stone walls built of Shirakawa-ishi in three villages at the foot of Higashiyama, Kyoto

Abstract

Shirakawa-ishi, a type of white granite used in Japanese gardens, was quarried by three villages located at the foot of north Higashiyama Mountain (Kitashirakawa, Ichijoji and Shugakuin) until the early Showa period. After the rapid urbanization from Meiji period, the village landscapes created by Shirakawa-ishi either changed or were lost. This paper aims at grasping the quantity and condition of stonework and stone walls built by Shirakawa-ishi remaining in these three villages, and discussing on their characteristics of local stone use. Through field investigation, we confirmed 62 pieces of stonework and 157 stone walls on the streets of three villages. Stonework including Buddhist images, lanterns and guideposts were almost small in size. Kitashirakawa contained only 18 stone walls, which showed the most urbanization among three villages, but the high density of stonework and high ratio of cut-stone use in stone walls reflected the village’s advanced techniques of stone processing. Ichijoji and Shugakuin contained more stone walls built using natural stone, due to the influences of delayed urbanization and a mountainous location. Ichijoji contained a significantly high number of Buddhist images and lantern sets, which showed us that the local village landscapes were mostly preserved among these three villages.