Motooka Family Residence Inner Gate and Tsuiji Wall

About the Motooka Family Residence Inner Gate and Tsuiji Wall

The Motooka Family Residence Inner Gate and Tsuiji Wall (本岡家住宅内門及び築地塀, Motooka-ke Jūtaku Uchimon oyobi Tsuijibei) is a timber gate with flanking earthen walls in Motomachi 2-chome, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, built around 1902, and it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 27, 2006.

The gate is a timber Munamon with an opening 2.0 meters wide, and a roofed Tsuijibei wall runs off to either side for a total length of 5.4 meters. Gate and wall are registered together as a single structure. They stand against the east end of the main house's north side.

The date lines up with the main house, which was moved in 1902. It is easy to imagine the gate and wall going up to divide the grounds once the house was in place, although the sources do not say so directly.

A Screen Set Beside the Main House

The Motooka Family Residence Inner Gate and Tsuiji Wall was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, it separates the garden north of the main house from the space in front, and in doing so shapes the view of the house's front.

As the name uchimon, "inner gate", implies, this is not the street entrance but a gate inside the property, marking the threshold between the open forecourt and the garden beyond. At 5.4 meters, the wall does not enclose anything; it works as a partition between the garden and the forecourt.

How the Gate and Wall Are Built

The gate of the Motooka Family Residence Inner Gate and Tsuiji Wall has a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles and a pair of doors that swing open in the middle. A munamon is one of the simplest gate types, a single gabled roof set on two posts, and an opening of 2.0 meters suits a gate used by people moving about within the grounds.

The walls on either side are earthen Dobei built up on footings of cut stone and capped with a pantiled roof. The registered name calls them a tsuiji wall, while the Agency's description simply says earthen wall. A tsuiji wall is a roofed wall of rammed or layered earth, the type often seen around temples and samurai residences.

Gate and wall share the same pantile roofing as the main house. Small as it is, the structure sits neatly beside the house and gives the front of the property a finished edge.

Viewing the Motooka Family Residence Inner Gate and Tsuiji Wall

The Motooka Family Residence Inner Gate and Tsuiji Wall is part of a private home, and no public opening could be found.

Because the gate and wall stand on the north side of the main house, inside the grounds, whether they can be seen from outside depends on where you stand. Please view and photograph the property only from the public road, and keep clear of the household.