Former Uchida Saheiji Family Residence Openwork Fence

Former Uchida Saheiji Family Residence Openwork Fence

The Former Uchida Saheiji Family Residence Openwork Fence (旧内田佐平二家住宅透塀) is a structure built in the early Meiji period at the Uchida Saheiji family house in Utsumi, Minamichita Town, Chita District, Aichi Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 2, 2018, under registration number 23-0535. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a timber fence with a tiled roof, 5.6 metres long, renovated in 2013.

According to Minamichita Town, the Saheiji house was built by the Sashichi family for the first Sazo, who had managed the family's branch shop, when he returned to Utsumi; a house-plan divination chart of May 1872 dates it to around that time.

Why It Was Registered

The openwork fence was registered in 2018 as contributing to the historic landscape of the country. According to the Agency, it stands on the boundary at the back of the east side of the plot, linking the front of the retirement cottage with the east end of the back of the main house, and frames the cottage's front garden.

What to Look For

It is 2.4 metres high: posts on a sill are tied by a ridge beam, with projecting beams on both sides carrying a small roof. Between the posts are vertical lattices of round bamboo, with paired diagonal lattice above, giving it a light, airy look (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

According to the town, the fence screens the courtyard between the main house and the retirement cottage from the neighbouring plot. Look at its lattice as part of the courtyard view from the cottage's reception room.

Visiting

No public opening information for the Saheiji house was found in Minamichita Town's guidance, which covers the main Uchida (Sashichi) house. Ask the town's education division (0569-65-0711) whether it can be visited. Opening days, admission and access are on the Uchida Family Residences of the Utsumi Shipowners page.