What is the Machida Family Residence Gate?
The Machida Family Residence Gate (町田家住宅門, Machida-ke Jūtaku Mon) is an early Meiji-era timber Yakuimon gate standing east of the main house on National Route 353 in Nakanojo, Agatsuma District, Gunma Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2001.
It is 1.5 ken (2.4 meters) wide with a single doorway, a type described in Japanese as "one bay, one door". The roof is a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof covered in Sangawara-buki pan tiles. The Agency for Cultural Affairs classes it as an "other structure" rather than a building, counted as one unit, and places it in the early Meiji era, which began in 1868.
Why the gate was registered
The Machida Family Residence Gate was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 28, 2001, under number 10-0083, for contributing to the historic landscape of the country.
The Agency calls it a gateway fitting for a family of local standing. The Machida family served as senior village headmen and later ward chiefs, and the gate is part of the estate's formal frontage on Route 353. The Agency then picks out one detail as the gate's defining feature: the roof on the street side is laid in stepped courses, a technique called dambuki.
What to look for at the Machida gate
A stepped roof on the street side only
The first thing to check on the Machida Family Residence Gate is the roof. According to the Agency, the slope facing Route 353 is laid as dambuki, with a step built into the roof surface so that a single break line runs across it. What stands out is that this more laborious method was chosen for the side people see from the street.
How a yakuimon is built
In a yakuimon, the main posts that carry the doors are backed by a second pair of posts behind them, and a gabled roof spans all four. Because the ridge sits behind the main posts rather than directly above them, the roof reaches well forward over the street side. At 2.4 meters wide, the Machida Family Residence Gate is not a large example.
A gate flanked by a fence and a side door
The Machida gate does not stand alone. Facing it, a roofed board fence runs off to the right. To the left, between the gate and a wall of rounded fieldstones at the main house's east gable end, there is a small side entrance. Gate, fence, side door and stone wall together form the east half of the estate's street front.
Visiting the Machida Family Residence Gate
The Machida Family Residence Gate faces Route 353, and its exterior can be seen from the sidewalk (checked October 2, 2026). It is the gate of a private home, so please do not walk through it or enter the grounds by the side door.
To see the stepped roof, stand across Route 353 and look up at the roof slope at an angle. Directions from Nakanojo Station are on the Machida Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- What kind of gate is the Machida Family Residence Gate?
- An early Meiji-era timber yakuimon gate, 1.5 ken (2.4 meters) wide with a single doorway, under a gabled pan-tiled roof.
- What is unusual about the roof of the Machida Family Residence Gate?
- The slope facing Route 353 is laid in stepped courses (dambuki), with a step built into the roof surface. The Agency for Cultural Affairs names this as the gate's defining feature.
- Why is the Machida Family Residence Gate a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It is valued as a gateway fitting for a family of local standing that shapes the streetscape. It was registered in 2001, on the same day as the main house.
- What stands on either side of the Machida Family Residence Gate?
- A roofed board fence on the right as you face it, and on the left a side entrance between the gate and the fieldstone wall at the main house's east gable.
- Where can I see the Machida Family Residence Gate?
- From the sidewalk of Route 353. It belongs to a private home, so you cannot go through it.
Basic Information
| Name | Machida Family Residence Gate |
|---|---|
| Location | 982 Nakanojo, Nakanojo-machi, Agatsuma-gun, Gunma Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | 2001 (registered) |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | 2.4 meters wide (one bay, one door) |
| Owner | Private (owner not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | Exterior visible from Route 353 |
References
- Machida Family Residence Gate (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002218
- Machida Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002215
Last verified: 2026.10.01
