What a sodobei is
A sodobei is a short wall running out to either side of a gate, tying it into the boundary of the plot so that the gate does not stand in isolation.
The structure field records it among the specifications of the gate. The gate at the Ogura Residence in Osaka Prefecture, built in 1932, is entered as reinforced concrete under copper sheet, 4.91 metres wide, with walls to left and right. The west gate at the Tottori Residence in Kagawa Prefecture, from the early Showa period, is entered as timber under sheet metal, 1.3 metres wide, with such a wall. Width and flanking walls are stated together.
Large temple gates carry them too. Gates at Higashi Honganji in Kyoto are recorded as a Shikyakumon with curved gables front and back and flanking walls attached under Hiwadabuki, and as a three-bay Yakuimon under Hongawarabuki with flanking walls and a Kugurido.
The front gate of the former Shoriki villa in Kanagawa Prefecture, from the middle Showa period, is recorded as timber under copper sheet, 1.8 metres wide, with walls to either side. Scale makes no difference to the practice.
Design and function
The walls are themselves designed. The great gate at Hongakuji in Kanagawa Prefecture, from the early Showa period, has flanking walls boarded at the base with vertical lattice above the tie beam, closing the boundary while letting the eye through.
Some carry guard rooms. The gate and flanking guard rooms of the former Fujita villa in Aomori Prefecture, built in 1922, are described as a lintel gate about four metres wide with lattice set across the upper part of its doors and the walls to either side, and guard rooms on brick footings at each flank, the whole giving a frontage suited to a site near the castle.
A Nagayamon takes this to its conclusion, replacing the flanking walls with ranges of rooms. Wall, guard room and gatehouse are three answers to the same question of what to do beside a gate.
On site, look to either side. A short wall running from the gate posts to the boundary wall is the feature, and where a record names it as attached, that wall falls within the designation as well.
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Registered tangible cultural properties (structures)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/toroku_yukei.html
- National Cultural Properties Database: Ogura Residence gate, reinforced concrete with flanking walls to either side
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014058
- National Cultural Properties Database: Tottori Residence west gate, 1.3 metres wide with a flanking wall
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014106
- National Cultural Properties Database: Higashi Honganji gatehouse, 230.02 square metres over two storeys
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/00005517
- National Cultural Properties Database: former Shoriki villa front gate, 1.8 metres wide with flanking walls
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014149
- National Cultural Properties Database: Hongakuji great gate, a Korai gate without doors and with flanking walls
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014339
Last verified: 2026.09.11