The Wall That Closes the Corner
The Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall (丸岡家住宅裏土塀) is the rear perimeter wall of a merchant compound in Shimotakase, Mino-cho, Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture, built in the late Meiji era between 1898 and 1912 and entered in Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 31 October 2022.
It is timber-framed, roofed in Hongawarabuki round-and-flat tiles, and runs 16 metres. Rising along the west edge of the plot, it turns north and closes the gap between the main house and the storehouse, forming the northwest corner of the property. It is the shortest of the three walls at the Maruoka Family Residence and the furthest from the road.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall as a practical wall at the back of a merchant plot. Among the eight structures, it is one of the few explained in terms of what it does rather than how it looks.
Filling the Gap
The registration criterion is contribution to the historic landscape, though this wall does not face the street. The streetscape is the work of the front wall and the street-side length of the south wall. What the Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall does is close the outline of the plot.
Between two buildings, the main house and the storehouse, there is a gap. This wall fills it and makes the northwest corner exist. The perimeter is a chain of buildings and walls alternating around the plot, and if any one link is missing the line breaks. The position of this wall is a good argument for why the eight were registered as a set.
It dates from the late Meiji era, between 1898 and 1912, the same phase as the storehouse and the south earthen wall, when the family was securing the back of the plot before rebuilding the front.
What to Look At
The distinctive thing about the Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall is that it is not only a wall. On the west side, the roof is carried down the inner face and the space beneath it serves as a storage lean-to. A single slope extended downward becomes a canopy, and usable space appears between the wall and the ground.
Any roofed wall has to shed water to one side or the other. Here the slope was turned inward and the ground it covered was put to work. This is a structure whose form follows from a practical requirement rather than from a design intention.
A timber gate stands at the eastern end of the north stretch. Counted together with the service door in the front wall and the two in the south wall, the compound distributed small openings around its perimeter rather than relying on the main gate alone.
The wall is black Shikkui plaster over Shinkabe framing, with a mortar base on the outer face. The south earthen wall uses an Araidashi washed-aggregate base instead. Different materials for faces that are seen and faces that are not.
The roof is Kirizuma-zukuri gabled and laid in round-and-flat tiles. Of the three walls at the Maruoka Family Residence, only this one uses them; the front and south walls are pantiled. The heaviest roofing went on the wall furthest from the road.
Visiting
The Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall runs from the west edge of the plot to the north, which makes it the least visible of the three walls from the road. Sitting between the main house and the storehouse, it cannot be followed along its length from outside.
Tracing the north stretch of the front earthen wall westward brings you toward the point where the outline of the plot passes to this wall. The roofing material is the way to tell them apart: round-and-flat tiles here, pantiles on the front wall.
The lean-to under the extended roof is on the inner face and cannot be seen from outside. This is a private residence with no reception desk and no visitor parking, and photography is limited to what can be taken from the public road. The history of the compound and directions to it are covered on the Maruoka Family Residence page.
Q&A
- Can I see the Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall?
- Only partly. It runs along the west and north edges at the back of the plot, so it cannot be followed along its length from the public road.
- When was the Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall built and registered?
- It was built in the late Meiji era, between 1898 and 1912, and registered on 31 October 2022 under number 37-0476.
- How does the Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall double as a storage space?
- Its roof is carried down the inner face on the west side, and the sheltered space beneath is used for storage. The slope was turned into the plot so the ground it covered could be put to use.
- How does the Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall differ from the other two walls?
- At 16 metres it is the shortest, and it is the only one roofed in round-and-flat tiles rather than pantiles. Its base is mortar-rendered, where the south wall uses a washed-aggregate finish.
- Which station is closest to the Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall?
- Mino Station on the JR Yosan Line, about 830 metres away, roughly 11 minutes on foot.
Basic Information
| Name | Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall |
|---|---|
| Location | 533-1 Otsui, Shimotakase, Mino-cho, Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 31 October 2022 |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Wood, tiled roof, 16 metres long |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Closed to the public. At the rear of the plot and hard to see from outside |
References
- Maruoka Family Residence Rear Earthen Wall — National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014425
- Registered Tangible Cultural Properties — Mitoyo City
- https://www.city.mitoyo.lg.jp/kakuka/kyouikuiinkai/shogai/3_1/history_bunnkazai/13938.html
- Local Houses Added to the National Register — Mitoyo City
- https://www.city.mitoyo.lg.jp/hotnews_old/reiwa4/202207hot/9908.html
Last verified: 2026.09.14
