What mizukiri-gawara means
Mizukiri-gawara are rows of small tiles fixed horizontally partway up the lime-plastered walls of storehouses and houses, one row or several. The tiles project from the wall like tiny hoods and throw off rainwater running down it, prolonging the life of plaster that does not stand up well to rain.
They are especially common in Kochi, where typhoons and heavy rain are frequent, and white walls of Tosa-shikkui with row upon row of drip tiles give towns such as Kiragawa in Muroto their character. Similar devices for shedding rain from walls are found elsewhere as well.
Reading the records and the building
Records give the number and position of the rows. The north storehouse of the Morisawa family in Aki, Kochi, a two-storey gabled building used for rice in its east half and tools in its west, has four rows of mizukiri-gawara on its upper plastered wall, described as a design with regional character. A Muroto City document explains that the seaside district of Kiragawa was built up with plastered townhouses in Tosa plaster, with drip tiles and brick, and low upper storeys.
Records sometimes say only mizukiri, which can refer to any drip feature on a wall, whether a step of plaster, a board or tiles. Articles should follow the record and check photographs to see whether tiles are meant. On site, horizontal rows of tiles at intervals up a white wall are mizukiri-gawara.
References
Last verified: 2026.09.26