The gate that faces Shinjuku-dori
The Adachi Family Residence Yakuimon Gate (安達家住宅薬医門, Adachike Jūtaku Yakuimon) is a late Edo period timber gate opening onto Shinjuku-dori in Makabe, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2017. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it between 1830 and 1868 and classifies it not as a building but as a structure, the only one of the three listed parts of this property to be filed that way.
A Yakuimon is a gate of a particular skeleton: two heavy Kagami-bashira main posts carry the ridge, two lighter posts stand behind them, and the roof sits forward of centre so that the covered area falls in front of the doors rather than over them. The form was in wide use for the entrances of residences from the medieval period onward.
This one measures 2.6 meters across the opening, with a single bay and a single doorway. sodobei wing walls run east and west from the posts, tying it into the street frontage, and a low kugurido wicket is cut into the eastern side for everyday use so that the main leaves could stay shut.
It serves as the formal entrance to the reception wing behind, not to the shop. A caller with business at the counter went in off the street; a caller with business with the family came through here.
Two kinds of tile on one roof
The detail that earned the Adachi Family Residence Yakuimon Gate its place on the register is on the roof, and it takes a moment to notice. The front slope is laid in Hongawarabuki, the older system of alternating broad flat tiles with heavy semicylindrical covers over the joints. The back slope is Sangawara-buki, the lighter single-piece pantile that had displaced it almost everywhere by the closing years of the Edo period.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that a hongawarabuki face of this kind has no parallel among the gates of the district. The choice was about how the gate reads from the street: the ribbed, shadowed surface of the older tiling is much heavier in appearance, and the family paid for it where it would be seen and saved on it where it would not.
Under the eaves, the rafters run in a single tier, spaced wide apart in the manner called mabara-daruki. Nothing conceals them. Stand close to the Adachi Family Residence Yakuimon Gate and look up into the eaves, and the whole structure of Taruki, purlin and post is there to be read in one glance.
Gates in a town of shopkeepers
Makabe is a merchant town, and merchant towns are not usually full of gates. Sakuragawa City explains that under the Kasama domain the townspeople's building was regulated, and that it was after those restrictions lapsed in the Meiji era that shop families began putting up yakuimon in numbers. The town today is unusual among preserved merchant districts for the sheer count of them.
Against that background the Adachi Family Residence Yakuimon Gate carries an earlier date than the wave. A fire in 1837 had already pushed the town toward tile and plaster, and the gate belongs to the decades that followed.
The registration is numbered 08-0302 and dated 27 October 2017, the 88th round, under the criterion for structures that contribute to the historic landscape of the country. It covers 1 structure and the owner is a private individual. Makabe holds roughly 100 registered properties, and about 17.6 hectares of the town was selected in 2010 as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.
Visiting
The Adachi Family Residence Yakuimon Gate faces directly onto Shinjuku-dori, which makes it the one part of this property that can be looked at properly. The plot behind it is a private home and is not open. Do not pass through the gate or the wicket, and do not photograph through the opening.
Photographing the gate itself from the public street is not restricted. Raking light rather than flat midday sun brings out the ribbing of the front tiling and the difference between the two roof slopes.
To get there, take the JR Mito Line to Iwase Station, then the Sakuragawa city bus Yamazakura GO to the Shimojuku or Kamijuku stop and walk into the old streets. From Tsukuba Station on the Tsukuba Express, ride the north shuttle bus to Tsukubasanguchi and change to Yamazakura GO; the journey takes about 90 minutes. By car, allow around 40 minutes from the Tsuchiura-kita interchange on the Joban Expressway.
Makabe's Hina Matsuri runs from early February to 3 March each year and brings the largest crowds of the year to these streets, with traffic controls in the centre on the busiest weekends. Outside that period the town is quiet and the gates can be examined at leisure. The Sakuragawa City Commerce and Tourism Division on 0296-55-1159 handles enquiries.
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Q&A
- Can I see the Adachi Family Residence Yakuimon Gate at any time?
- Yes. It stands on the street line of Shinjuku-dori and can be seen from the public road at any hour. The property behind it is private and closed, so please do not pass through.
- What makes the Adachi Family Residence Yakuimon Gate different from other gates in Makabe?
- Its front roof slope is laid in the older hongawarabuki tiling while the rear is ordinary pantile. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records that this front treatment has no parallel among gates in the district.
- How wide is the Adachi Family Residence Yakuimon Gate?
- The opening measures 2.6 meters. It is a single-bay gate with one doorway, flanked by wing walls, with a small wicket door cut in on the eastern side.
- When was the Adachi Family Residence Yakuimon Gate built and registered?
- Construction is dated between 1830 and 1868. It was entered on the register on 27 October 2017 with the number 08-0302.
- How do I reach the Adachi Family Residence Yakuimon Gate from Tokyo?
- Take the Tsukuba Express to Tsukuba Station, the north shuttle bus to Tsukubasanguchi, then the Yamazakura GO city bus into Makabe, about 90 minutes from Tsukuba. Coming by JR, change at Iwase Station on the Mito Line.
Basic Information
| Name | Adachi Family Residence Yakuimon Gate |
|---|---|
| Location | 424-1 Shinjukucho, Makabecho, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2017 (Heisei 29) |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Timber, tiled roof, frontage 2.6 meters, wing walls to east and west, wicket door on the east |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Visible from Shinjuku-dori at all times; the property behind is closed to the public |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Adachike Jutaku Yakuimon
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00011862
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education: Adachike Jutaku Misegura oyobi Shuoku and two other structures
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-registered-5932/
- Sakuragawa City: Makabe Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/education/bunkazai/city_bunkazai/kuni_bunkazai/page003423.html
- Sakuragawa City: The townscape of Makabe
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/tourism_guide/learn/page000455.html
Last verified: 2026.09.05