What Is the Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate?
The Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate (旧安倍家住宅庭門, Kyū Abe-ke Jūtaku Niwamon) is a small Udekimon gate on Hidaka-kōji in Mizusawa, Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture, built in the late Taishō era (1919 to 1926) and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 June 2022.
It opens on the eastern edge of Suishōen, the garden that spreads north of the main house, and is 1.1 meters wide. The gate has a single bay with a single doorway, under a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of wooden boards. Once you are through the front gate, it stands on the west side of the path, where the path meets the garden.
Why the Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate Is Registered
The Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate is Registered Tangible Cultural Property number 03-0118, registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as the gate that marks off the eastern side of the garden and, for all its simplicity, conveys how a samurai residence in the Mizusawa castle town was put together.
On the Abe estate the front gate, the garden gate and the main house follow one another inward, and the Oshu City Board of Education presents that sequence as the layout of a samurai home. Within it, the garden gate is the one that leads into the garden.
What to Look For at the Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate
The Abe garden gate shows the anatomy of an udekimon clearly. A Kabuki crossbeam spans the two main posts, and Udeki brackets projecting from the posts carry the eaves. The ends of the brackets are cut with moulded profiles instead of being left as plain square timbers.
A pair of board doors hangs in the opening. Above the crossbeam, a Ranma panel of Sukashibori openwork lightens the upper part of the gate. The gate is small and its board roof is plain, but the care has gone into the details near eye level: the carved panel and the shaped bracket ends.
At 1.1 meters, the Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate is about half as wide as the 2.1-meter front gate. Where the front gate has its eaves sealed in lime plaster, the garden gate is a light frame of brackets and openwork under a board roof, so the two gates, built in the same late Taishō years, have quite different characters.
Visiting the Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate
The Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate stands inside the grounds and cannot be seen from the street. You can see it only on a visit booked with Oshu City.
Step close to the front of the gate and look up to follow the openwork of the transom. From the garden side, looking back, it is easy to see how the gate sits between the garden and the path from the front gate. Directions and visiting conditions for the whole estate are on the Former Abe Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- What type of gate is the Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate?
- It is a single-bay udekimon, a bracket-armed gate. A crossbeam spans the main posts, moulded brackets carry the eaves, and the gabled roof is covered with boards.
- When was the Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate built?
- The national database dates it to the late Taishō era (1919 to 1926), the same period as the front gate.
- Where is the carved transom on the Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate?
- It sits above the crossbeam, filled with an openwork panel. You can see it by standing in front of the gate and looking up.
- When did the Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate become a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- On 29 June 2022, as registration number 03-0118, for its contribution to the historic landscape.
- Can I see the Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate from the street?
- No. It stands inside the grounds on the eastern edge of the garden. You can see it on a visit booked with Oshu City, held on weekdays from 20 March to 15 November and free of charge.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Abe Family Residence Garden Gate (旧安倍家住宅庭門) |
|---|---|
| Location | 21-1 Hidakakoji, Mizusawa, Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), Registration No. 03-0118 |
| Year Designated | Registered 29 June 2022 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, board roof, 1.1 meters wide |
| Owner | Oshu City |
| Public Access | Open by reservation (weekdays, 20 March to 15 November, free) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: 旧安倍家住宅庭門 (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014224
- Guide sheet: Former Abe Family Residence, Modern Japanese-Style Architecture (Oshu City Board of Education, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.oshu.iwate.jp/material/files/group/79/54753_182573_misc.pdf
- Former Abe Family Residence (Oshu City official website, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.oshu.iwate.jp/kanko/osusume/4/3/889.html
Last verified: 2026.09.28
