Matsushita Family Residence Stone Wall

About the Matsushita Family Residence Stone Wall

The Matsushita Family Residence Stone Wall (松下家住宅石垣, Matsushita-ke Jūtaku Ishigaki) is an early Meiji-period Ishigaki stone wall in the Higashishioya district of Minamibeppu, Chiran Town, Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima Prefecture, and it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on December 5, 2007. It encloses the Matsushita homestead for a combined length of 78 meters.

The wall runs from the east side of the plot around the south and on to the west side. It breaks off in places, so it is better understood as a series of stone boundaries framing three sides of the property than as one unbroken enclosure.

Why It Was Registered

The Matsushita Family Residence Stone Wall was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that, together with the storehouse and the other buildings, it shapes the character of the street.

Approach the property from outside and the first thing you meet is not the main house or the storehouse but this wall. Stone holds the edge of the plot, and the white walls and tiled roofs of the buildings rise behind it. Much of the homestead's outward face, in other words, is the Matsushita Family Residence Stone Wall.

Courses, Heights and Curves

The Matsushita Family Residence Stone Wall is built of dressed, squared stones laid two to eight courses high. Its height varies a great deal, from 0.53 meters at its lowest to 2.7 meters at its highest. The west side is the tallest.

Midway along the east side, the wall turns inward into the plot, and that recess forms the entrance. Rather than simply breaking the wall to make an opening, it is folded back so that the entrance sits recessed behind the line of the wall.

At the southwest corner the wall does not meet at a sharp angle but sweeps around in an arc. Among long straight runs of masonry, that curve is one of the details worth looking for.

Viewing the Matsushita Family Residence Stone Wall

Because the Matsushita Family Residence Stone Wall runs along the outside of the homestead, it can be seen from the road. The grounds themselves are not open, and no visiting arrangements or opening days could be found.

The entrance at the middle of the east side is the place to see how the wall folds inward, but please do not look into the grounds. The tall west side and the curved southwest corner should likewise be viewed only from the public road. Take photographs from the road, and keep clear of residents and traffic.