Iwase Family Residence Front Gate

A Yakuimon Gate in the Corner of the Estate

The Iwase Family Residence Front Gate (岩瀬家住宅表門, Iwase-ke Jūtaku Omotemon) is the main gate of a salt-producing family's estate in Shinhamacho, Sakaide, Kagawa Prefecture, a tiled Yakuimon gate of the late Meiji period that was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 March 2019 (registration no. 37-435).

It stands in the northeast corner of the plot, set a little back from the boundary and facing east. The opening is 2.1 metres wide. The gabled roof (Kirizuma-zukuri) is laid with heavy round-and-flat tiles (Hongawarabuki) and given a gentle upward swell, known as mukuri, toward the eaves.

From the front of the gate, an approach lined with stone planting beds runs north to the road, while earthen walls extend on either side. The Iwase Family Residence Front Gate is the turning point on the route from the street to the main house.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the gate as giving the merchant family's frontage its weight and dignity, and its 2018 recommendation names the tiled yakuimon as a key part of the estate's formal front.

A yakuimon carries its roof on two main posts, which hold the doors, and two shorter posts set behind them. At the Iwase Family Residence Front Gate the main posts are cut to a flattened rectangular section, known as gohei, with short walls on either side and a small wicket door (Kugurido) on the south.

The roof framing repays attention. Four beams span front to back, resting on the lintel that ties the main posts and on an arched, Kōryō-shaped tie beam across the rear posts, and those beams in turn carry the eave purlins. Four beams is a generous allowance for a gate just 2.1 metres wide, and it accounts for its solid, substantial look.

What to Look For

Start with the roofline. The mukuri swell lends a heavy tiled roof a softer profile and makes it look large for the size of the gate.

If you ever have the chance to stand beneath it, look up at the four beams bridging the lintel and the arched rear tie: it is a textbook demonstration of how a yakuimon is framed.

Closing the sides with walls and placing the wicket door on the south let the household come and go without opening the main doors.

Seeing the Front Gate

The gate belongs to a private home, and visitors cannot pass through it. The approach in front of it is private land too, so view the gate from the public road.

Take any photographs from the road, and do not look in if the gate happens to be open. Directions to the estate are covered on the Iwase Family Residence page.