Shimanouchi Katsuyuki Family Residence Inner Wall

What the Shimanouchi Katsuyuki Family Residence Inner Wall Is

The Shimanouchi Katsuyuki Family Residence Inner Wall (島内克之家住宅内塀) is a combined earthen and stone wall of 1911 in Kamioka, Noichi-cho, Konan City, Kochi Prefecture, dividing the homestead into garden and work areas, and was listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 25 June 2002.

It has two parts. One is an earthen wall with a small tiled roof, running east to west between the main house and the gatehouse, 14 metres long in total. The other is a stone wall that runs north from its east end for 6.4 metres.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the stone section as being in the manner of an ishiguro, the Tosa word for the dry-stone walls that surround houses in this part of Japan.

Why It Was Listed

The Inner Wall was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

If the outer wall is the face the estate shows to the world, the inner wall is the one that organises life inside it. It separates three quite different places: the garden south of the main house, the work yard north of the gatehouse, and the field on the east side of the property.

The official description adds that on the garden side, the inside corner of the wall doubles as the retaining wall of an artificial hill in the garden. So the wall is a boundary and a piece of landscape engineering at once, evidence that wall and garden were planned together. That is what lifts the Shimanouchi Katsuyuki Family Residence Inner Wall above a simple partition.

What to Look For

The Inner Wall forms a rough L in plan, with the earthen wall running east to west and the stone wall running north. The corner where they meet is the place to focus.

On one arm, a light construction of earth under a small roof; on the other, the weight of stacked stone. Material and character change as the wall turns.

On the garden side, the inside of that corner holds back the soil of the artificial hill. Earth is banked against the foot of the wall and flows on into the contours of the garden, so a property boundary and a garden landform are handled by a single structure.

Compare the ishiguro-style stonework with the tortoise-shell base of the outer wall at the front. Both date from 1911, and the difference between stone meant to face outward and stone meant for the inside of the compound is instructive.

Visiting

The Shimanouchi Katsuyuki Family Residence Inner Wall lies inside a private homestead and cannot be visited. Neither the Konan City nor the Kochi Prefecture cultural property lists mention any public access (checked 26 September 2026).

Because it stands behind the gatehouse, between it and the main house, assume it cannot be seen from outside the property. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database includes photographs of the wall, which are the reliable way to see it.

If you go to the area, do not peer through the gate or step onto the property.