Former Shimatani Warehouse

Built in 1892 to store rice, this warehouse in Otaru is now a cafe and one of the better-preserved examples of the timber-framed stone construction that defined the port town's commercial architecture. The Shimatani family, kitamaebune merchant shippers from Yamaguchi, used the building during their transition from sailing vessels to steamships after 1895. The walls are faced with locally quarried tuff blocks about 15 centimeters thick, which provided insulation from Hokkaido's cold and protection against fire. Between 1880 and 1910, some 16 major fires burned through Otaru, but stone-clad warehouses like this one survived largely intact.