Suzunoya Heritage Preservation Society Wall

What Is the Suzunoya Heritage Preservation Society Wall?

The Suzunoya Heritage Preservation Society Wall (鈴屋遺蹟保存会塀, Suzunoya Iseki Hozonkai Hei) is a timber, tile-roofed wall 11 meters long, built in 1909 on the Matsusaka Castle ruins in Tonomachi, Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 31 July 2007.

It went up with the society's office and gate when Motoori Norinaga's house was moved onto the castle ground. From the southwest face of the former office it runs southwest until it meets the relocated house.

A Screen Between Office and House

The Wall was registered as number 24-0066, for its contribution to the historic landscape.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs explains that it screens the grounds from the open square in front. It closes the gap between the society's office and Norinaga's house, so that the stretch between them is hidden from the square. The last bay, the one nearest the house, holds a doorway.

Eleven meters is not much, yet the Suzunoya Heritage Preservation Society Wall is the one piece of the group that physically ties the new office to the old house. Of the four registered structures, it shows most plainly that everything here was laid out around the house.

Clapboard, Lattice and Bracketed Eaves

The Wall is divided into 9 bays over its 11 meters, so each bay is roughly 1.2 meters. It is built of timber with a tiled roof.

Read it from the bottom up. The lower part is Shitami-itabari, overlapping boards that shed the rain. Above that is a renji lattice of slim vertical bars that lets a little of the far side show through. At the top, Udeki arms project from the posts to carry the tiled roof.

The Agency's verdict is that these layers give the wall a weighty presence. A screen wall that lightens its upper half with lattice and pushes its roof out on brackets for a deep shadow line was clearly meant to keep company with the office porch and the gate, not to be a plain board fence.

Visiting

The Suzunoya Heritage Preservation Society Wall stands between the former office and Norinaga's house, inside the visiting area of the Motoori Norinaga Memorial Museum and the house. The garden in front of the office and the house are normally entered on the combined museum ticket. Ask at the museum desk about photography.

Since the wall runs southwest from the office, you can follow its full length by looking from the side of the office toward the house. The doorway in the last bay, by the house, can be seen from there as well.