Sakai Family Residence Main Gate and West Wall

About the Sakai Family Residence Main Gate and West Wall

The Sakai Family Residence Main Gate and West Wall (酒井家住宅正門及び西塀, Sakai-ke Jūtaku Seimon oyobi Nishi-bei) is a timber gate with flanking walls built around 1930 in Rakuma, Maruoka-cho, Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2025.

The Main Gate and West Wall consists of a Yakuimon gate opening at the centre of the estate's west side and the board walls running off on either side of it. The gate is 2.8 m wide and the walls total 29 m. Because the main house faces west, this gate is the formal entrance to the whole estate.

The Face the Estate Shows the Street

The Sakai Family Residence Main Gate and West Wall was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs says that gate and wall together give the estate a front that is both ornate and dignified.

Note that the walls are registered together with the gate as a single property. The face the estate presents to the west depends on the two working as one.

A Carved Gate and a Pierced Wall

The gate stands on a raised stone base under a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Hongawarabuki tiles, with a Kugurido wicket door on each side, so the main leaves can stay shut while people come and go through the small doors.

Its ceiling is a fukiyose oriage gōtenjō: a coffered ceiling raised at its edges, with its ribs set in closely spaced pairs. Even the space overhead as you pass through has been worked with care.

The carving is the highlight. The gable ornaments, the Ranma transom panels and the area above the Kabuki crossbeam are all finely carved, and looking up you notice cut detail almost everywhere on the timber.

The west wall is a board wall topped with a band of Sukashibori openwork in an arabesque scroll pattern. That pierced band keeps a long wall from looking monotonous and echoes the decoration of the gate.

Seeing the Sakai Family Residence Main Gate and West Wall

The Main Gate and West Wall belongs to a private home and the grounds behind it are not open (checked October 2026). It stands on the edge of the property, so its outside face can presumably be seen from the road; if you stop to look, keep clear of traffic and do not disturb the residents.

You cannot pass through the gate. The layout and history of the estate are covered on the Sakai Family Residence (Maruoka) page.