Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Gate and Wall

About the Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Gate and Wall

The Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Gate and Wall (旧大野木家住宅中門及び塀, Kyū Ōnogi-ke Jūtaku Chūmon oyobi Hei) is an early Showa-period gate and set of walls dividing the south side of the Onogi estate in Takehana Donomae-cho, Yamashina Ward, Kyoto City, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on July 25, 2011. The Agency for Cultural Affairs classifies it as a structure rather than a building.

The registration covers two walls and one gate. The first wall marks the south edge of the site. The second branches north from its midpoint as a garden wall, enclosing the garden in front of the formal rooms of the main house. Together they run for 60 meters, and the middle gate stands where the two meet.

Why It Was Registered: A Light Gate Before a Heavy House

The gate of the Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Gate and Wall is an Udekimon, a simple gate whose roof rests on bracket arms, 1.6 meters wide. It carries a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles, and its posts are logs that keep their knots. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the design sukiya-style, the relaxed idiom of the tea house, and says it lends the scene a sense of calm.

The contrast is deliberate. The main house to the north has its walls and eaves sealed in lime plaster, like a castle. The Onogi middle gate, with its slim log posts and light gable, looks more like the entrance to a tea garden. Placing this small gate in front of such a heavy house changes the pace of the approach to the formal garden.

The walls are capped with tiled roofs. Along the base of the garden wall runs tokusa-bari, a facing of narrow strips set vertically and close together, which gives the lower wall the fine ribbed look of scouring rush. The registration criterion is that the structure contributes to the historic landscape of the country.

Highlights: Dividing the Front Court

The job of the Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Gate and Wall is to split the south side of the estate in two. The outer wall separates the house from the street, and the garden wall running north from it divides the approach to the entrance from the garden before the formal rooms. Guests reached that garden only by passing through the middle gate.

The south side of the Onogi estate holds very different buildings: the castle-like main house, a storage shed that also served as a waiting bench, and this tea-style gate. The gate and walls are what tie them into one sequence.

Visiting the Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Gate and Wall

The Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Gate and Wall lies inside the estate, so neither the gate nor the garden wall can be seen without entering the grounds. The wedding and restaurant business at the Former Onogi Family Residence ended at the end of September 2024, and the grounds are now closed.

From the street, only the outer boundary walls and hedges are likely to be visible. Access and viewing conditions for the whole estate are covered on the Former Onogi Family Residence page.