Aizanso Gate and Wall

About the Aizanso Gate and Wall

The Aizanso Gate and Wall (愛山荘門及び塀, Aizansō Mon oyobi Hei) is a tiled timber gate and wall built around 1916 between the first and second storehouses, closing the west side of Aizanso in Wakatake-cho, Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2017.

The gate is an udegimon 1.8 metres wide with short wing walls on either side, and the wall runs for 6.2 metres. Both face the street and, with the first storehouse at the northwest corner and the second storehouse to the south, form the public face of Aizanso.

Why it was registered

The Aizanso Gate and Wall was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

An udegimon is a light, simple gate whose roof is carried on arms (udegi) projecting front and back from the posts. This one holds sliding board doors and lattice doors that part to either side, with a lattice Ranma transom above the lintel. The rafters are grouped in clusters (fukiyose) rather than evenly spaced, which gives the eaves a refined rhythm.

The wall is built in Shinkabe fashion with its posts exposed, finished in boards on the street side and cedar bark on the garden side. Neat boarding faces the town and rustic bark faces the garden, and between them the wall does its job in both views.

What to look for

The grouped rafters

Look up under the eaves of the gate. The rafters come in bunches rather than at even spacing, and the pattern gives the eaves a beat.

Two kinds of door

The gate of the Aizanso Gate and Wall has both board doors and lattice doors. With the board doors shut it is a screen; with only the lattice shut, a glimpse of the garden reaches the street.

Both sides of the wall

See the boarded outer face from the street, then the cedar-bark inner face from inside the grounds, and it becomes clear that the wall was built as part of the garden scenery as much as a boundary.

Seeing it

Because the Aizanso Gate and Wall stands on the street, its outer face can be seen from the road at any time. The cedar-bark inner face is only visible from inside the grounds.

The official website does not say whether this gate is used as the current entrance. Directions and opening hours are on the Aizanso page.