Spring, summer, autumn, and winter mark the four seasons of Japan. Before summer arrives, the rainy season reigns. The climate in Japan varies widely, and in response, Japanese construction has employed the mud wall since ancient times. The roots of ECOCARAT lie with traditional mud-wall construction methods compatible with the climate found in Japan.

Since ancient times Japanese houses were built with natural materials that found their way into mud walls and sand walls. Mud walls featured a moisture-regulating aspect, which provided lower humidity and a cool feel to mud-walled homes during the notoriously humid summers. In the ages before air conditioning, Japanese homes were filled with the wisdom that leveraged nature’s capacity for living comfortably.

Storehouses made from mud wall and mortar exceled in fire resistance alongside moisture regulation. These dozo were used for safekeeping of rice, documents, and artwork such as hanging scrolls. People inherited the protective family storehouse from one generation to the next generation.

The dozo were also used for making sake (rice wine), whose yeast and koji (malted rice) activity, affected by temperature and humidity, would dictate the brew. Even today, many brewers continue to produce sake within mud-walled storehouse structures.