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The kura is called Shiraiwa, after the site that welcomes it. Harmoniously slotted into the landscape, in profound dialogue with the history of rural architecture, it channels the core principles of IWA: inclusivity, horizontality, community. Workers and guests, production and reception, live and work under the same roof, share the same accommodations, and gather around a unique hearth. IWA’s unique approach to production informed the layout of the Shiraiwa kura.
In the thousand Kuras dotting Japan, Tojis and their teams perform an age-old, hands-on, highly sophisticated process. Rice is polished, washed, soaked, steamed, cooled, inverted, mashed, fermented, pressed–a miraculous transmutation of solid into liquid, cereal into alcohol. At a time when their number is in decline, it is a great privilege to create a contemporary Kura.
The Kura is designed by globally renowned architect, Kengo Kuma, taking inspiration from the longhouses in traditional Japanese villages, and the concepts of inclusivity and community, with everything under one roof.
