The Street Front of the Estate
Iwamura Family Residence (Former Kuroiwa Family Residence) Gate and Palanquin Room (岩村家住宅（旧黒岩家住宅）門及び駕籠部屋, Iwamura-ke Jūtaku Mon oyobi Kago-beya) is an early Meiji-era gate and attached palanquin room facing the street south of the main house of an old family estate in the Maejima neighborhood of Kawakita, Aki City, Kochi Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 15, 2024.
The gate is a timber udegi-mon, a bracket-arm gate, with a tiled roof and an opening 2.0 meters wide. The palanquin room is a single-storey timber building with a footprint of 11 square meters. The national database dates both to the early Meiji era, between 1868 and 1882, and records a renovation in 2014.
The main house, the storehouse and a tiled earthen wall were registered on the same day. For anyone approaching from the street, the Iwamura Family Residence gate and palanquin room are the first things you see.
Why It Was Registered
The listing cites its contribution to the historic landscape, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs credits the pair with giving the street a dignified estate frontage.
In old Japan, a house's gate was the face it turned to the neighborhood. Setting a room for a kago, the enclosed palanquin carried on poles by bearers, right beside the entrance would also have told passers-by that this was a household that traveled by palanquin.
At the Iwamura Family Residence (Former Kuroiwa Family Residence) Gate and Palanquin Room, the gate and the palanquin room stand shoulder to shoulder and read as a single façade along the south edge of the plot. The main house behind preserves the domestic life of a goshi family; this is the public face that family presented to the street.
What to Look For
The gate is a one-bay, single-opening design, the simplest arrangement there is. In an udegi-mon, short arms project fore and aft from the gateposts to carry the roof, here a gabled roof of Sangawara-buki tiles. Look at the gate from the side to see how the arms hold up the overhanging eaves.
The side bay to the east of the opening is closed with a Shikkui plastered wall above a base of vertical boards. White plaster over upright timber frames the gateway like a mat around a picture.
The palanquin room adjoins the gate to the east: a small gabled, tiled building with its ridge running east to west. Its door opens from an earthen-floored Doma on the west side, and windows with little canopies face south and east. The south window and its canopy add a modest line of shadow beside the gate.
Visiting the Gate and Palanquin Room
The Iwamura Family Residence (Former Kuroiwa Family Residence) Gate and Palanquin Room belongs to a private home, and as of September 2026 neither Aki City nor the Agency for Cultural Affairs lists any visitor access. Do not walk through the gate; view it from the street.
Of the 4 registered structures on the estate, this pair is by far the easiest to see. From the street to the south, the face of the gate and the south wall of the palanquin room line up side by side. Photograph only from the public road and keep the house beyond the gate, and its residents, out of the frame.
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Q&A
- When was the Iwamura Family Residence (Former Kuroiwa Family Residence) Gate and Palanquin Room built?
- The national database dates it to the early Meiji era, between 1868 and 1882, and records a renovation in 2014. It was registered on August 15, 2024.
- What kind of gate is the Iwamura Family Residence (Former Kuroiwa Family Residence) Gate and Palanquin Room?
- A one-bay udegi-mon (bracket-arm gate) with a gabled, tiled roof and an opening 2.0 meters wide. The east side bay has a plastered wall above vertical boarding.
- What is the palanquin room at the Iwamura Family Residence (Former Kuroiwa Family Residence) Gate and Palanquin Room?
- A small single-storey timber building attached to the east of the gate, with a footprint of 11 square meters. Its door opens from an earthen floor on the west, and it has canopied windows facing south and east.
- Why is the Iwamura Family Residence (Former Kuroiwa Family Residence) Gate and Palanquin Room a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, as it gives the street a dignified estate frontage.
- Can I visit the Iwamura Family Residence (Former Kuroiwa Family Residence) Gate and Palanquin Room?
- It is part of a private home, and as of September 2026 no visitor access has been announced. You can see the exterior from the street to the south.
Basic Information
| Name | Iwamura Family Residence (Former Kuroiwa Family Residence) Gate and Palanquin Room |
|---|---|
| Location | 284 Kawakita Maejima-ko, Aki City, Kochi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2024/8/15 (Reiwa 6) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Gate: wooden, tiled roof, opening 2.0 meters wide; palanquin room: wooden, single storey, tiled roof, building area 11 square meters |
| Owner | Not disclosed (no owner listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private home; exterior visible from the street to the south) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Cultural Properties Database: 岩村家住宅（旧黒岩家住宅）門及び駕籠部屋
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00015097
- Aki City Ordinances: Cultural Properties in Aki City (安芸市における文化財)
- https://www.city.aki.kochi.jp/reiki/reiki_honbun/o304RG00000266.html
Last verified: 2026.09.25
