Morimatsu Family Residence Nagayamon Gate

About the Morimatsu Family Residence Nagayamon Gate

The Morimatsu Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (森松家住宅長屋門, Morimatsu-ke Jūtaku Nagayamon) is a late-Edo (1751 to 1829) gatehouse that forms the front entrance of a former headman's estate in Mukonoso Higashi, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2009.

The Morimatsu Family Residence Nagayamon Gate stands on the west side of the compound, just south of the main house. It is a one-storey timber building 18 metres long and 5.0 metres deep, 95 m² in area, under a gabled roof of pantiles.

Gate, Room and Storeroom in One

A Nagayamon combines a gate passage with rooms or sheds on either side under one long roof. Here the passage runs through the middle, 2.5 metres wide and closed by doors. South of it is a room; north of it is a storeroom with an earth floor.

The Morimatsu Family Residence Nagayamon Gate was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs praises the long gatehouse for giving the estate a front of real standing. Its 18-metre length matches that of the main house, and the two buildings together make up the west face of the property.

The South Barn on the south side is also cut through by a gated passage, so the estate has two gatehouses of this type. The west one is the formal entrance; the south one is the side way in.

Plastered Walls Over Dark Boards

On its street side, the Morimatsu Family Residence Nagayamon Gate has Ōkabe walls, plastered right over the posts, with a band of vertical boarding along the base. White plaster above and dark boards below keep the 18-metre wall calm rather than monotonous.

With the doors shut, the building reads as a single long wall. Notice that the opening sits in the centre, with the wall lengths on either side almost equal.

Seeing the Morimatsu Family Residence Nagayamon Gate

The Morimatsu Family Residence Nagayamon Gate is the front gate of a private home, and you cannot walk through it. As the Agency's phrase "front" suggests, its street face is meant to be seen from outside.

Standing at the doors gets in the residents' way, so the whole facade is best viewed from the far side of the road. How to reach the estate is explained on the Morimatsu Family Residence page.