Osaka Family Residence Nagayamon Gate

A Meiji Gatehouse in the Hills of Ayagawa

The Osaka Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (苧坂家住宅長屋門) is a single-storey timber Nagayamon built in 1896 at the southern edge of the Osaka family estate on a hillside at Nishibun, Ayagawa Town, Ayauta District, Kagawa Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on April 28, 2010. A nagayamon is a gate flanked by rooms in a long row-house form.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 86 square metres; registration number 37-0367. The Kagawa Prefectural Board of Education lists the owner as a private individual.

A Gatehouse in a Mountain Village

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the gate faces south at the southern end of an estate set on hilly ground. A servants' room lies west of the gateway and a stable and storeroom to the east, bringing gate, living quarters for staff and space for animals and tools under one roof.

Built in the mid-Meiji period, the gate still shows the bearing of a substantial household in the hill hamlet of Nishibun (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Osaka Family Residence Nagayamon Gate was registered as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it keeps a dignified presence in a mountain village.

What to Look For

The Osaka Family Residence Nagayamon Gate is 17 metres long and 5.0 metres deep, with a hip-and-gable roof of traditional round-and-flat tiles. The gateway opens a little west of centre (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The walls have clapboard on the lower part and are plastered with earth up to the eaves (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The heavy tiled roof over earthen walls gives the gate the look typical of a Meiji farmhouse gatehouse.

Visiting

The Osaka Family Residence Nagayamon Gate belongs to a private residence, and we could not confirm any public opening (Kagawa Prefectural Board of Education). It is at Higashi-uradani, Nishibun, Ayagawa Town; if you visit, view it only from the road and respect the residents' privacy.