In this paper we have investigated from the historical and geographical point of view, the high-floor ware-houses of the south-western islands of Japan. These islands are the Tokara, the Amami, the Okinawa, and the Sakishima Islands which are spread in a slightly curved are beginning from just the south of the Osumi islands and ending at the eastern sea of Formosa. We can classify from the point of architectural construction in 3 classes high-floor ware houses of Japan, which were built in old Japan and are built now-a-days. Class I. The columns of this type are high enough and support the roofs directly. Class II. The columns of this type are short and support only the floors. In this class we have 2 sub-divisions. a. The upper-structures are frames. b. The upper-structures are Azekuras. Class III. The intermediate type between class I and II. The ware-houses belonging to class I we can find in old Japan, such as the figures drawn on the Dotaku or on the beak of the old blonze mirrors. In the Present time the ware-houses of this type are somewhat rare, but we can find this type in Hateruma island. In the Amami islands we can find them too, but their floors are very low. These belonging to class II.a are found in old Japan and at the present time in many places, namely in the islands of east-southern Asia, Formosa, Okinawa, Amami, Hachijo and Hokkaido. From the historical and geographical investigations, we can conclude that these ware-houses must be in the same cultural circle. In old Japan these were built generally but in the course of historical time the examples became gradually rare and in the present time we can not find them in Japan proper, but in the above mentioned islands. These of class II.b were built in old Japan quite generally, such as the Todaiji-Azekura and others. The examples of the ware-houses of class III are fairly rare historically and geographically. The ware-houses of the south-western islands, belonging to class II.a can be classified in 2 types, namely the Okinawa and the Amami type. From the techinical stand point, the Amami type is fairly more advanced than the Okinawa type, being influenced by the architectural technic of Japan proper. The reason can be explained from the historical facts.
