The Gatehouse on the Street
The Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (廣田家住宅長屋門) is a nagayamon gatehouse of the late Meiji period (1898 to 1912) in Kamisakabe 2-chome, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on 24 June 2021 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records it as a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and 30 square metres of building area, registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country; registration number 28-0762.
The Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate faces the east-west road along the south side of the plot. The south wall joins it and runs west, and together they form the public face of the homestead.
Structure and Plan
The gatehouse measures three and a half bays by two and a half, under a kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of sangawara-buki tiles. The west half is the gateway and the east half a storeroom. The gateway has double plank doors, with a kugurido wicket in the east wing.
The street front is boarded at the base and plastered black above; the rear is plastered white. Amagasaki City's list of registered properties describes the gatehouse as a two-storey earthen-walled structure, which differs from the Agency's single-storey timber; this article follows the Agency's record.
Why It Was Registered
The Agency values the Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate as the dignified street front of an old family. A nagayamon combines a gateway and storerooms or living quarters under one roof, and it announced the standing of a leading village household. For the Hirota, who served for generations as headmen, the black-plastered front to the street does exactly that.
What to Look For
The two faces of the Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate are finished differently. The street front has vertical boarding at the base and black shikkui plaster above, giving it a stern, formal look. The inner face, turned toward the house, is white plaster. Dark toward the world, light toward home.
The gateway is closed by a pair of plank doors, and day-to-day traffic used the kugurido, a small wicket door in the east wing that lets a person through without opening the main leaves. Both can be picked out in the Agency's photograph of the south side. The south wall runs on westward from the gatehouse, so gate and wall make one continuous street front.
Visiting
The Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate faces the road along the south side of the plot, but it is the gate of a private home and you cannot pass through it; Amagasaki City states that the residence is not open to the public. We have not checked the view from the street on site, so the Agency database photograph of the south side is the surest way to see it.
Q&A
- What is the Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate?
- A late Meiji gatehouse on the street along the south side of the plot, three and a half bays by two and a half under a gabled tile roof, with the gateway in the west half and a storeroom in the east.
- Why are the two sides of the Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate different colours?
- The street front is boarded below and black-plastered above, while the inner face is white plaster. The Agency reads it as the dignified street front of an old family.
- Is the Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate timber or earthen-walled?
- The Agency database records a single-storey timber building. Amagasaki City's list describes it as a two-storey earthen-walled structure, so the sources differ.
- Can I visit the Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate?
- You cannot go through the gate into the grounds. It belongs to a private home, and Amagasaki City states that the residence is not open to the public.
- When was the Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate registered?
- On 24 June 2021 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (廣田家住宅長屋門) |
|---|---|
| Location | 162 Kamisakabe 2-chome, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2021/6/24 (Reiwa 3) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber, tiled, building area 30 square metres, 3 and a half by 2 and a half bays |
| Owner | Not listed in the Agency database (private residence) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private residence) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013859
- Cultural Heritage Online: Hirota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (in Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/542598
- Amagasaki City: Hirota Family Residence, registered cultural properties of Amagasaki (in Japanese)
- https://www.city.amagasaki.hyogo.jp/manabu/bunkazai_0/1028308/1028313/1028798.html
Last verified: 2026.10.19
