Sato Family Residence High Wall

A Charred-Cedar Wall Around the Northeast Corner

The Sato Family Residence High Wall (佐藤家住宅高塀, Satō-ke Jūtaku Takabei) is an early Shōwa-era roofed timber wall enclosing the northeast of the estate of a former village headman's family in Chohoji (Chōhōji), Nagaokakyo, Kyoto Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2008.

It picks up where the tsuiji earthen wall ends on the east side, turns the northeast corner and runs along the north edge as far as the East Rice Storehouse, 40 metres in all. The Edo-period tsuiji wall guards the south and west; the Sato Family Residence High Wall guards the northeast.

It is the youngest of the 9 registered structures, a sign that the old perimeter was still being completed well into the 20th century.

Cut Stone, Charred Cedar, Bracketed Eaves

On the street side the wall sits on a sill laid over a base of dressed-stone masonry, an Ishigaki. Above it rises a tall lower section faced with yakisugi, cedar boards charred on the surface. The charring makes the timber resistant to rain and insects, and yakisugi has long been a standard cladding for farmhouses and storehouses in western Japan.

At the top of each post a bracket arm projects outward to carry a small pantiled roof. Held out from the posts, the eaves throw rain clear of the boarded face.

On the inside, the posts are buried in a smooth coat of white Shikkui lime plaster. Black charred timber to the street, white plaster to the house: the wall has two quite different faces.

Why It Was Registered

The High Wall was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as part of the traditional village scene. Although it dates from the early Shōwa era, it was built with the old materials and methods, stone, charred cedar and tile, and it joins the Edo-period tsuiji wall and the row of storehouses without a visible break in character.

Visiting

The Sato Family Residence High Wall runs along the outside of the estate, so its stone base, charred-cedar boarding and bracketed tile roof can be seen from the public road. The plastered inner face is inside the grounds and cannot be seen. The Sato Family Residence is a private home that is not open to the public. Please do not touch or lean on the wall, and keep photography to the street.