Japan Heritage story
Fukiya: the birthplace of Japan Red
「ジャパンレッド」発祥の地
On a plateau about 500 m up in western Okayama, a town of red-brown roofs and red lattices appears out of nowhere. Fukiya grew rich on copper and bengara, a red pigment that coloured Japan's famous porcelain and lacquer and became known abroad as Japan Red.
Key facts
- Theme
- Castles, Forests and timber, Textiles and dyes, Mines and minerals
- Era
- Edo
- Region
- Chugoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 「ジャパンレッド」発祥の地
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- －弁柄と銅の町・備中吹屋－
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 岡山県（高梁市）
The story
From the mid-Edo period Fukiya made bengara, a red iron oxide pigment produced from ore dug alongside copper. It was roasted, washed, ground and dried in the sun into a fine red powder. Fukiya bengara coloured Kutani and Imari porcelain, Wajima lacquer, buildings and ships, dominated the national market, and won first prize at Japan's first National Industrial Exhibition in 1877. Overseas, its colour was seen as Japan Red.
The Yoshioka copper mine was said to date back to 807. It was later run by the Sumitomo and Mitsubishi families, and closed in 1972. With the wealth, merchants brought shrine carpenters and roof tilers from Iwami and competed to build fine houses with red-brown tiles and bengara-painted lattices, creating the unique red townscape you see today.
What to see
- Fukiya preservation district: about 1.5 km of red-tiled merchant houses, including the former Katayama House.Google Maps 吹屋ふるさと村 (opens in a new tab)
- Bengara-kan: a restored bengara factory showing how the pigment was made.Google Maps ベンガラ館 (opens in a new tab)
- Former Hirokane House: the grand home of a family made rich by bengara.Google Maps 旧広兼家住宅 (opens in a new tab)
- Sasaune mine tunnel: an old copper mine tunnel, with drill marks still on the rock.Google Maps 笹畝坑道 (opens in a new tab)
Plan your trip with the Okayama prefecture guide and see more history.
Good to know
- Visit during Fukiya Bengara Akari, when the red town is lit up at night.
- See the former Fukiya Elementary School, a Meiji-era building on the site of Mitsubishi's mine office.
- Look for bengara-dyed goods and Kutani or Imari pieces that show off Japan Red.
Questions travellers ask
What is bengara?
A red iron oxide pigment. Fukiya's bengara was prized for porcelain painting and red lacquer.
Why is Fukiya all red?
Rich bengara and copper merchants built houses with red-brown roof tiles and lattices painted with bengara.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Esashi: the herring town that outshone Edo
- Iwami kagura: gods and demons dance the old myths
- Iwami's volcanoes: Jomon forest and silver mountain in Oda
- Izumo: the sacred land where the sun sets
- Izumo's tatara: a thousand years of making iron
- Japan's old schools: where a nation learned to read
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Kurashiki: a textile town that grew from one cotton flower
- Masuda: a medieval masterpiece of Japan
- Okayama, where the Momotaro legend was born
- Onomichi: a hillside port town of temples and lanes
- The Murakami Kaizoku: sea lords of the Geiyo Islands
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.