Registered Tangible Cultural Properties · Gunma

Fujiu Family Residence West Well

Fujiu Family Residence West Well: A Tuff-Stone Well for Tea Water

An early-Meiji garden well by the pond at the Fujiu estate in Kiryu, Gunma, said to serve the tea room; a low tuff curb on a slab tops its 3.6-meter shaft.

Designation Registered Tangible Cultural Properties

Location Gunma

Fujiu Family Residence West Well: A Garden Well for the Tea Room

The Fujiu Family Residence West Well (藤生家住宅西井戸, Fujiu-ke Jūtaku Nishi-ido) is an early Meiji-era stone-built well beside the garden pond, west of the inner storehouse, at the Fujiu family estate in Hirosawa-chō, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on May 15, 2007.

Family tradition holds that it supplied water for the tea room. The curb is 90 centimeters square, made of four squared tuff stones a little over 20 centimeters high and 12 centimeters thick, and it rests on a flat stone slab 17 centimeters thick. The shaft below is lined with dry-laid river cobbles and is 3.6 meters deep; the registered area is 0.80 square meters.

Why the Fujiu West Well Was Registered

The Fujiu Family Residence West Well was registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country.

Its four tuff stones are locked together with finely cut half-lap joints. Kept low, barely above the slab it sits on, the curb is as much a stone feature to be seen in the garden as a piece of water supply. Together with the tea room and the pond, it forms part of the garden scene in the northwest of the estate.

A Soft Stone for a Garden Setting

Tuff, the stone of the Fujiu West Well, is compacted volcanic ash: relatively soft, easy to cut and gentle in texture. The same stone lines the lower walls of the bathhouse on the estate.

The east well behind the main house, used for drinking water, has a tall curb of hard granite. The west well, a garden well, uses a soft stone kept close to the ground. Two wells on one property, built for different purposes, and the difference shows plainly in their stone and their shape.

Visiting the Fujiu Family Residence West Well

The Fujiu Family Residence West Well sits in the garden at the northwest of the grounds and cannot be seen from the road. The garden and well are part of a private home and are not open.

Please do not enter the property; the Fujiu estate can only be viewed from the public road.

📍 Plan Your Visit to Gunma: Find tours, activities & transport passes near Fujiu Family Residence West Well; [ Kusatsu Onsen & Tomioka Silk Mill Heritage Tours ]

Q&A

QWhat was the Fujiu Family Residence West Well used for?: AIt is said to have supplied water for the tea room. It lies beside the garden pond, west of the inner storehouse.

QHow is the curb of the Fujiu Family Residence West Well built?: AFour squared tuff stones joined with half-lap notches form a curb 90 centimeters square, a little over 20 centimeters high and 12 centimeters thick, set on a stone slab 17 centimeters thick.

QHow deep is the Fujiu Family Residence West Well?: AIt is 3.6 meters deep, with a lower shaft lined with dry-laid river cobbles.

QWhen was the Fujiu Family Residence West Well built?: AIt dates to the early Meiji era and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on May 15, 2007.

QCan I see the Fujiu Family Residence West Well?: ANo. It is in the garden of a private residence that is not open to the public.

Basic Information

Name	Fujiu Family Residence West Well
Location	5-1179 Hirosawacho, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture
Designation	Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building)
Year Designated	Registered May 15, 2007 (54th round, registration no. 10-0228)
Quantity	1 structure
Dimensions	Area 0.80 square meters; curb 90 centimeters square and just over 20 centimeters high; depth 3.6 meters
Owner	Private owner
Public Access	Not open to the public (private residence)