Fujita Family Residence Gate and Fence

What Is the Fujita Family Residence Gate and Fence?

The Fujita Family Residence Gate and Fence (藤田家住宅門及び塀, Fujita-ke Jūtaku Mon oyobi Hei) is a wooden street gate and fence of about 1935 at the Fujita Family Residence in Yamana-cho, Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto, with a gate 1.6 meters wide and a fence 6.0 meters long in total, and it was entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2015.

The gate and fence run west from the southwest corner of the main house's east wing and screen off a small forecourt in front of the west wing. Since the west wing was built in the early Showa years to receive guests, this is effectively its front door to the street.

Why It Was Registered

The Fujita Family Residence Gate and Fence was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 26, 2015 (registration number 26-0469), for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a light, nimble gate and fence designed in the Sukiya-zukuri manner, the relaxed, rustic taste that grew out of tea-house architecture. There is no heavy tiled wall or earthen barrier here; it is built of logs, boards and cedar bark.

Of the four registered parts of the Fujita Family Residence, this is the one anyone can walk right up to without a reservation, along with the street front of the east wing. It shapes the Nishijin streetscape directly, which makes the registration criterion easy to understand on site.

Highlights

Knobbed Log Posts and Log Eaves

The posts of the Fujita Family Residence Gate and Fence are kobudashi logs, timber worked so that natural knobs stand out along the surface, and the eaves are framed with logs as well. Compared with a gate built from squared lumber the lines are softer, closer to the language of tea houses and garden pavilions.

The gate stands a little east of the fence's center and is set back from the line of the fence. Because only the gate steps back, a small pocket of space opens in front of it, a place for a visitor to pause before entering.

Two Different Faces

The street side of the fence is made of vertical boards with narrow battens nailed over the joints. The inner side, facing the forecourt, is clad in cedar bark, so the fence shows one texture to passersby and another to guests. The top section is left with open gaps between the boards, letting sky and light through, which keeps even a tall fence from feeling heavy.

A single run of ichimonji tiles, whose straight-edged fronts form one clean line along the eaves, caps both the gate and the fence, so the two roofs read as one continuous stroke.

Seeing the Gate and Fence

The Fujita Family Residence Gate and Fence faces the street, so its outer side can be seen at any time without a reservation. The knobbed posts and the straight tile line along the eaves show best if you stand a few steps east or west of the gate and look along the fence at an angle.

The cedar-bark inner face is on the forecourt side and can only be seen on the reserved tour of the Fujita Family Residence. The gate is also the entrance to a private home, so if you stop in front of it, please leave the way clear.