Sato Family Residence Tsuiji Earthen Wall

An Earthen Wall Around the South and West

The Sato Family Residence Tsuiji Earthen Wall (佐藤家住宅築地塀, Satō-ke Jūtaku Tsuiji-bei) is an Edo-period roofed earthen wall enclosing the south and west sides 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.

A tsuiji wall is built up of clay and topped with a small tiled roof, a form long used around temples and houses of standing. The Satō wall comes in 2 sections. The longer one, 57 metres, starts at the west end of the Nagayamon Gate's storeroom and bounds the south and west sides of the lot. The shorter one, 11 metres, runs from the east end of the gate along the southern part of the east side. Together they total 68 metres.

With the gatehouse between them, the two sections wrap the estate continuously from its street front around to its west side.

A Low Stone Base and Trowelled Waves

The wall stands between 1.50 metres and 1.9 metres high on a low stone base, capped with pantiles. Kept to about head height, it screens the grounds from the road without looming over it.

The surface was finished with a plasterer's trowel and worked into a wave pattern. Instead of a plain smooth coat, 68 metres of clay carry the marks of the plasterer's hand.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs credits the Sato Family Residence Tsuiji Earthen Wall with giving the estate its calm, settled appearance.

Why It Was Registered, and Its Younger Neighbour

The wall was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

From the northern part of the east side and along the north, the perimeter continues as the High Wall of the early Shōwa era. Edo-period clay on the south and west, Shōwa-era timber faced with charred cedar on the northeast: the estate is closed by two walls of different ages and methods, and the north end of the tsuiji wall on the east side marks the seam between them.

Visiting

The tsuiji wall runs along the outside of the estate, and the sections facing the road can be seen from the public street, trowelled wave pattern included. The Sato Family Residence itself is a private home that is not open to the public, so the grounds cannot be entered. Please do not touch or lean on the wall, and keep photography to the street.