What the Edo period means in these records
The Edo period is the era of Tokugawa rule, and it is the period from which most surviving architectural cultural property dates.
The date field of the National Cultural Properties Database divides it into early, middle, later and final phases. The year field gives the Japanese era name and a separate field gives the western year, so an entry reads as a phase followed by a reign year.
Descriptions also use it to characterise a scene. The rice store at the Mobara Residence in Gunma Prefecture, from the later Edo period, is described as comparatively large for a storehouse, defining the plot along the street, and conveying the look of a farming village of the period.
The Horeki storehouse at the Sakai brewery in Nagano Prefecture, also from the later Edo period, is described as a brewing store said to date from the period, standing beside the boiling house and malting room to the south. Here the phrase marks continuity of use.
Reading the dates
More than one year may appear. Construction, alteration and relocation are all recorded, so an entry may give a period, then a Meiji year for repairs, then a Taisho one. Which part of a building belongs to which year has to be read from the description.
Where only the Japanese era year is given, the western year appears in its own field. Years of era change do not align neatly, so quoting the recorded value is safer than converting.
The grounds for a date often go unstated. Where a Munafuda, an inscribed Onigawara or an inscription found during Kaitai shūri established it, the description says so. A date with evidence behind it and a date without should be written differently.
Other period names work the same way in these fields, from the Heian period through the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, across both Registered Tangible Cultural Property and Important Cultural Property records.
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties (structures)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/kokuho_bunkazai.html
- National Cultural Properties Database: Mobara Residence rice store, conveying the look of an Edo-period farming village
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003064
- National Cultural Properties Database: Sakai brewery Horeki storehouse, a brewing store said to date from the Edo period
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003094
- National Cultural Properties Database: Takasu Shrine Main Hall, with six ridge tablets recorded as tsuketari
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/00005500
Last verified: 2026.09.10