Tanaka Family Residence South Earthen Wall

The Western Edge of the Southern Plot

The Tanaka Family Residence South Earthen Wall (田中家住宅南土塀, Tanaka-ke Jūtaku Minami-dobei) is an earthen boundary wall of late Meiji (1898 to 1912) marking the western edge of the Tanaka family's southern plot, west of the west barn, in Iitakacho Hase, Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 2, 2018.

It runs 27 metres under a pantiled roof across two land parcels, 210-1 and 212 Hasemachi. The "south" in its name seems to refer to the plot south of the old Wakayama Kaidō highway rather than to the direction the wall faces.

Care Taken Even at the Back

The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that although the Tanaka Family Residence South Earthen Wall stands at the back of the property, it is carefully made and helps give the whole compound its finished form. It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

According to Matsusaka City, the west barn and this wall close the western end of the southern plot, whose far side falls steeply to the Kushida River. The wall defines the outline of the compound on the side the road does not show.

Old Tiles Set into the Wall

The base of the Tanaka South Earthen Wall is the same diagonal Tanizumi cobblework as the other walls. The difference is higher up: the clay wall is faced with old roof tiles pressed into it, and at mid-height a band of interlocking round tiles and scrolled eaves tiles forms a pattern.

Of the four earthen walls, this is the only one with tile decoration on its face, turning worn-out roof tiles into ornament.

Seeing the South Earthen Wall

The Tanaka Family Residence South Earthen Wall is at the back of the property, so views from the road are probably limited. The Tanaka Family Museum's official information says nothing about seeing it.