What is the Morishima Family Residence Gate?
The Morishima Family Residence Gate (森島家住宅門, Morishima-ke Jūtaku Mon) is a timber gate with attached fences in Higashi 4-chome, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, built around 1924 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 3, 2006. It is a Munamon, a roofed gate on two main posts, 2.7 meters wide, and its registration includes 46 meters of fencing.
The gate opens near the middle of the south edge of the long, narrow plot of Morihide Textiles, an omeshi silk weaver. It served as the gate to the Morishima family's house, but it was also the original front entrance to the whole mill. Most visitors now arrive from the museum at the north end, so the Morishima Gate is easy to overlook, yet walking north from it is how the site was first meant to be entered.
Double doors and flanking walls
The Morishima Family Residence Gate has a gabled roof of Sangawara-buki tiles and faces the old road to the south. Kiryu City measured its opening at 2.69 meters. Back posts stand on the inner side, and the gate closes with a pair of hinged doors. Granite paving runs in front of and behind it.
On either side are short Sodobei wing walls, 1.69 meters to the west and 1.77 meters to the east, finished in white Shikkui plaster over weatherboarded bases and capped with tiles. Each wing wall has its own Kugurido, a small pass door. The large doors could stay shut while people came and went through the side openings, a sensible arrangement for a gate that served both a family home and a working mill. The gate is thought to date from the same period as the main house.
A board fence and a faintly purple concrete wall
The fencing registered with the Morishima Family Residence Gate is of two quite different kinds. Continuing west from the west wing wall along the old road is a board fence of vertical planks set on a concrete footing and capped with tiles, 2.32 meters high and 12.9 meters long.
Beyond it the fence becomes a concrete wall that turns the corner and runs north along another old road, enclosing the west side of the site. It is 30.25 meters long and the same 2.32 meters high. The surface is rendered in mortar and divided into panels by reinforcing piers 16 centimeters wide, set 1.52 to 1.76 meters apart, and the panels are roughly dressed as if tooled with a hammer. Kiryu City notes that they have a faint purple tint. Farther north the wall meets the side of the old sawtooth-roofed weaving shed, whose west wall takes over as the boundary.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs records the enclosure as partly timber and partly reinforced concrete. How the timber fence and the concrete wall join into one continuous boundary is part of what makes the Morishima Gate worth a look.
Why the Morishima Gate was registered
The Morishima Family Residence Gate was registered as a structure that contributes to the historic landscape of the nation. The gate, wing walls, board fence and concrete wall form the outer edge of the Morihide Textiles site on the south and west and set the view from the old roads.
Kiryu City observes that, because the museum now sits to the north, the main house seems to lie at the back of the factory, but that the front gate was originally the way in. The Morishima Gate therefore records which way a Kiryu weaver's home and mill were meant to face.
Seeing the Morishima Family Residence Gate
The Morishima Family Residence Gate and its board fence stand on the old road along the south side of the site, so their exterior can be seen from the street, and the concrete wall continues along the road to the west. Inside the gate is a private home that is not open to the public (checked September 2026). There is no official guidance on photography, so if you take pictures from the road, please avoid capturing the house beyond the gate. Standing in front of the gate, you can see its three openings side by side: the double doors in the middle and a pass door in each wing wall. Directions to the site are on the Morihide Textiles page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Gunma
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Morishima Family Residence Gate
- [ Kusatsu Onsen & Tomioka Silk Mill Heritage Tours ]
Q&A
- What kind of gate is the Morishima Family Residence Gate?
- A timber munamon gate 2.7 meters wide with a gabled tiled roof. Plastered wing walls flank its double doors, and each wing wall has a small pass door.
- How long is the fence registered with the Morishima Family Residence Gate?
- 46 meters in total: a 12.9-meter board fence along the old road and a 30.25-meter concrete wall enclosing the west side.
- Was the Morishima Family Residence Gate the entrance to Morihide Textiles?
- Yes. Kiryu City says the south gate was originally the way in. Visitors now enter through the Orimono Sankokan Yukari museum on the north side.
- When was the Morishima Family Residence Gate registered?
- On August 3, 2006. The gate is dated to around 1924.
- Can I see the Morishima Family Residence Gate?
- Yes, from outside. The gate and board fence face the old road on the south side. The house inside is private and closed to visitors (checked September 2026).
Basic Information
| Name | Morishima Family Residence Gate |
|---|---|
| Location | 4-2-24 Higashi, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | 2006 (registered) |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Opening 2.7 m, fence 46 m long (timber, tiled roof) |
| Owner | Not disclosed (private residence) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (exterior visible from the road) |
References
- Cultural Properties Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Morishima Family Residence Gate
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005579
- Cultural Heritage Online: Morishima Family Residence Gate
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/118657
- Kiryu City: Morishima Family Residence (Japanese)
- https://www.city.kiryu.lg.jp/kankou/bunkazai/1010700/kunitouroku/1002001.html
- Kiryu City: Morihide Textile Factory (Orimono Sankokan Yukari) building notes (PDF, Japanese)
- https://www.city.kiryu.lg.jp/_res/projects/default_project/_page_/001/002/000/yukari-2.pdf
- Kiryu City: Historic Scenery Building no. 14, Morishima Family Residence and Morihide Textile Factory (PDF, Japanese)
- https://www.city.kiryu.lg.jp/_res/projects/default_project/_page_/001/018/437/14gou.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.29
