【Sea Cucumber Wall】
The name "sea cucumber wall" comes from the style of sticking flat tiles to the wall and plastering the joints to make them look like sea cucumbers. It has excellent fire prevention, heat retention, and moisture retention, and is a construction method for exterior walls that was seen in various places from the Meiji era to the early Showa period, but it has decreased year by year due to aging and rebuilding. Currently, it is found in Matsuzaki Town and Shimoda City in Izu, and in Kurashiki City in Okayama Prefecture and Higashihiroshima City in Hiroshima Prefecture nationwide. There are still more than 190 buildings left in Matsuzaki, retaining their old-fashioned taste.
Sea cucumber walls have become rare in Japan. It is regarded as an important resource in the town and is actively engaged in conservation activities. Even now, there are plasterers who can make sea cucumber walls, and in addition to passing on techniques and improving the cityscape by repairing them, the "Matsuzaki Kura Creation Team" made up of local volunteers is promoting conservation and awareness-raising campaigns. The sea cucumber wall exists as a matter of course, but it is only because of the desire and efforts of these craftsmen and townspeople to "leave local resources for the future" that they can be preserved.