The Konishi Family Residence North Wall
Running east and west from the gate along the northern road, a low wall closes the front of the Konishi family plot in Nanamatsu, Amagasaki. Some thirty metres long, it is known as the kita-tsuiji-bei, the north perimeter wall, and it dates to the late Meiji period. It was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Hyogo Prefecture in 2011, together with the five other elements of the compound.
What makes this wall worth naming is its material. Where a tsuiji-bei traditionally means a rammed-earth or plastered garden wall, here the core is built of brick, the western material that arrived in Japan during the Meiji modernization. The Amagasaki Konishi residence, again, is a separate property from the Osaka merchant house of the same surname.
Why It Was Registered
The wall was registered on 25 July 2011 for its role in the historic streetscape. It is the connective tissue of the north front, linking the gate to the corner and giving the road a continuous, considered edge. Along the boundary the household planted greenery, so that leaves catch the light against the plastered face and soften the line of the street.
What to Look For
The wall shows the meeting of old and new construction in one low band. Its footing is laid up in granite. The body is brick, an unmistakably modern choice for late Meiji. Yet the outer face is dressed to look like traditional plaster, worked as mortar kaki-otoshi, a scraped mortar finish that mimics the texture of a lime-plastered wall. Along the top runs a course of roof tiles, the kind called kyo-fusuma-gawara, capping the wall as a small roof would cap a building.
Near the center of the eastern stretch, look for a kuguri-do, a low wicket door let into the wall itself. It reads as a quiet functional break in an otherwise steady run of masonry. Seen end to end, the wall is a compact lesson in how a rural family absorbed new materials without abandoning the look of the old.
The wall stands on the public boundary and is easy to see from the road, though the residence behind it is private.
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Q&A
- Why is a brick wall called a tsuiji-bei?
- Tsuiji-bei is the general term for a perimeter wall. This one keeps the traditional look and a tiled top, but its core is brick and its face is scraped mortar made to resemble plaster.
- How long is it?
- About thirty metres, running east and west from the gate along the northern road.
- What is the small door in the wall?
- A kuguri-do, a low wicket door, set near the center of the eastern part of the wall.
- Can I visit?
- The wall faces a public road and can be seen from outside. The residence within is private and not open to the public.
Basic Information
| Name | Konishi Family Residence North Wall (Konishi-ke Jutaku Kita-tsuiji-bei) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2-249 and vicinity, Nanamatsu-cho, Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), registered 25 July 2011 |
| Registration No. | 28-0525 |
| Built | Late Meiji period |
| Structure | Brick core with granite footing, tiled top, total length about 30 m |
| Count | 1 structure |
| Access | Visible from the public road; residence not open to the public |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Konishi Family Residence North Wall
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008750
- Amagasaki City — Konishi Family Residence
- https://www.city.amagasaki.hyogo.jp/manabu/bunkazai_0/1028308/1028313/1028796.html
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties — Konishi Family Residence (compound listing)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008746
Last verified: 2026.07.02