Manabe Family Residence: The Middle Gate and Fence
A large estate does not admit a guest all at once. Between the long entrance gate on the south front and the porch of the main house, the Manabe family placed a second, smaller gate, the middle gate, with a short fence running from it. Together they enclose the inner garden before the house and mark the point where an approaching visitor passed from the outer approach into the family's more private ground.
The gate was built in 1908. It takes the form of a yakuimon, a gate with its main posts set forward and a pair of supporting posts behind, roofed with a gabled span of formal tiles over an opening about 1.5 meters wide. Its timber is zelkova, a hard, handsomely grained wood chosen for both strength and appearance. The accompanying fence, roofed in copper, runs a total of about 11 meters and turns the passage into a composed sequence rather than a simple doorway.
Why It Is Recognized
The middle gate and fence were registered as a Tangible Cultural Property on 2 May 2017, under the criterion that they stand as a model of design. Among the boundary structures of the compound, this is the one where craftsmanship is turned to display: it was built to be looked at by people the family wished to impress, and its finish was chosen accordingly.
The listing recognizes the pair as a piece of designed architecture in its own right. Where the long outer walls speak of the estate's scale, the middle gate speaks of taste. Its role was to manage the experience of arrival, and the care lavished on so small a structure tells us how much that experience mattered to a family of standing.
What to Look For
The fence is finished differently on its two faces, and the contrast is the thing to notice. On the entrance side, the upper part is black plaster and the lower part is a broad band of boarding, with a lattice window set at every bay so that the fence is neither wholly closed nor wholly open. On the inner-garden side, both upper and lower parts are worked as woven ajiro walls, a softer, more intimate surface for the private space it screens.
The gate itself rewards a close look at its joinery. Zelkova was expensive and difficult to work, and a gate built from it announced that the household could afford the best. The whole ensemble, gate and fence together, was designed to move a guest inward with a sense of ceremony. As part of a private residence, it cannot be entered, though its presence can be sensed from the outer approach.
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Q&A
- What is a yakuimon gate?
- It is a gate type with its main pillars set forward and a pair of supporting posts behind, carrying a gabled roof. The Manabe middle gate is a yakuimon of zelkova wood.
- What does the middle gate do?
- It sits between the long entrance gate and the main house porch, enclosing the inner garden and marking the passage from the outer approach into the family's private ground.
- How is the fence finished?
- The entrance side has black plaster above and boarding below, with a lattice window at each bay; the inner-garden side is finished as woven ajiro walls above and below.
- Why was zelkova wood used?
- Zelkova is strong and finely grained but costly to work. Building the gate from it signaled that the household could command fine materials and skilled craft.
Basic Information
| Name | Manabe Family Residence, Middle Gate and Fence (Manabe-ke Jutaku Nakamon oyobi Hei) |
|---|---|
| Location | 58-1 Aza-Miyanishi, Hayashi-cho, Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Buildings), registered 2 May 2017; registration no. 37-0426 |
| Date | 1908 (Meiji 41) |
| Structure | Gate: timber, tiled roof, opening approx. 1.7 m. Fence: timber, copper roof, total length approx. 11 m. One unit. |
| Access | Privately owned; not regularly open to the public. |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties — Manabe Family Residence, Middle Gate and Fence (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00011581
- Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in Kagawa — Kagawa Prefectural Board of Education
- https://www.pref.kagawa.lg.jp/kenkyoui/shogaigakushu/bunkazai/culturalassets/culturalassets_16.html
- Designated Cultural Properties (Buildings) — City of Takamatsu
- https://www.city.takamatsu.kagawa.jp/kurashi/kosodate/bunka/bunkazai/shiteibunkazai/kenzo/index.html
Last verified: 2026.07.11