Okamoto Family Residence Rear Gate

A Modest Gate on the Southern Lane

The Okamoto Family Residence Rear Gate (岡本家住宅裏門, Okamoto-ke Jūtaku Uramon) is a small late Edo-period timber Yakuimon gate at Mori in Ozu Town, Kikuchi District, Kumamoto Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 23 August 1999. It stands on the southern edge of the Okamoto compound, between the stable and the south storehouse, under registration number 43-0031.

The roof is tiled and the opening is 2.0 metres wide. On its west side the gate butts directly against the south storehouse; to the east a plank fence, included in the registration, runs across to the stable. Next to the front gate, with its 2.4-metre opening and roofed wing walls, this is plainly the service entrance: smaller, simpler and more economical.

A Gate That Keeps the Line

What makes the Okamoto Family Residence Rear Gate worth registering is less the gate than the way it fits. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as simple in design, but notes that the gate and its fence were built to match the height of the boarding on the south storehouse and the stable, tidying the whole southern frontage.

Walk the lane and the effect is easy to read. The storehouse at the west end, the gate in the middle and the stable at the east are joined by fencing, and because the tops of the boards all run at the same height, three separate buildings present one continuous face to the street. The rear gate is the hinge in the middle of that face.

It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. If the front gate was built to display the household's rank, the rear gate was built not to spoil the view, which says something about how carefully this family thought about its street.

What to Look For

Standing in front of the Okamoto Family Residence Rear Gate, compare its two sides. To the west, the gatepost sits almost against the storehouse wall. To the east, the plank fence stretches away toward the stable. The junctions are different, yet the board line carries straight through.

Then think back to the front gate. The opening here is 2.0 metres against 2.4 metres there, and where the front gate has roofed, board-faced wing walls, this one makes do with a plain fence. Both are yakuimon of the same late Edo date, but the household clearly ranked them.

Seeing the Rear Gate

The gate can be seen from the public road running along the south side of the compound. It is a working entrance to a private home, so it cannot be opened or passed through, and the grounds are closed.

Photograph from the road only. To get the storehouse, gate and stable into one frame, step back to the opposite side of the lane, where the matching board heights are easiest to see.