Former Aikawa Family Residence Front Gate and Wall

A yakuimon gate and board walls from 1900

The Former Aikawa Family Residence Front Gate and Wall (旧相川家住宅表門及び塀, Kyū Aikawa-ke Jūtaku Omotemon oyobi Hei) is a Yakuimon gate with board walls built in 1900 in Sankocho, Isesaki City, Gunma Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 6, 2025. Continuing south from the former store, it closes off the eastern edge of the Aikawa property along Nishimachi street.

The Former Aikawa Family Residence Front Gate and Wall is timber with tiled roofs. The gate has a frontage of 2.4 metres, and the walls run to a total length of 14 metres. On either side of the gate the walls carry a heavier roof of round and flat tiles (Hongawarabuki); where the wall carries on southward, the roofing changes to lighter pan tiles (Sangawara-buki).

Among buildings that mostly date from the Edo period, the front gate and wall belong to the late Meiji years. The street face of shop and gate took on its present form at that point.

Why it was registered

The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the substantial gate of the Former Aikawa Family Residence Front Gate and Wall and its board walls together make up the formal front of the residence. The low shop and the gate and wall that follow it define what the house presents to the street. It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country.

The gate is a yakuimon, a type in which the roof rests on main posts at the front and supporting posts behind, with the ridge set back behind the main posts. It was used for the front gates of samurai houses, temples and well-to-do town residences. That a hardware merchant's family chose it reflects the standing of a household that served as town officials.

The roof is gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) with a gentle upward swell called mukuri, and laid in hongawarabuki. The slight convex curve softens the outline of an otherwise heavy tiled roof.

What to look for

The finest detail of the Former Aikawa Family Residence Front Gate and Wall is at the very top. The main ridge is built as openwork in the shippō-tsunagi pattern of interlocking circles, so you can see the sky through the linked rings. Look up from the street at how the crown of a heavy tiled roof suddenly turns light.

Beneath the roof the gate has a ceiling, and its board doors are dressed with hasso-kanagu, the long decorative metal straps that hold the door boards together. Fine metalwork is a fitting feature for the gate of a hardware dealer.

The board wall that runs south is finished in white Shikkui plaster above and Shitami-itabari clapboarding below. Note, too, where the roofing changes from the heavy tiles beside the gate to the lighter pan tiles further along, a way of ranking the wall with the gate at its centre.

Visiting

The Former Aikawa Family Residence Front Gate and Wall fronts Nishimachi street, so its exterior can be seen from the road at any time. The openwork ridge reads most clearly from the opposite side of the street.

The ceiling inside the gate and the metal fittings on the doors can be seen up close during opening hours, when the gate stands open. Anyone wishing to photograph or publish museum material should contact the museum. Opening hours, admission and directions are covered on the Former Aikawa Family Residence page.