Tanaka Family Residence West Earthen Wall

The Wall on the West of the Main House

The Tanaka Family Residence West Earthen Wall (田中家住宅西土塀, Tanaka-ke Jūtaku Nishi-dobei) is an earthen boundary wall built in 1911 along the west side of the Tanaka main house in Iitakacho Hase, Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 2, 2018.

It runs 27 metres: a base of river cobbles in the diagonal Tanizumi pattern, a clay wall finished in white plaster, and a pantiled roof.

Framing the Main House

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Tanaka Family Residence West Earthen Wall stands beside the main house to form the formal front of an upper-class merchant house, and it was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. With the front earthen wall and east storehouse on the other side, the main house is flanked by wall and storehouse on both sides.

Built in 1911, it is the latest of the four walls, some 15 years after the main house of 1896.

Dressed Stone and an Ogre Tile

The part to see on the Tanaka West Earthen Wall is its south end, where it meets the road. Here alone the base flares outward in dressed stone, and the roof is crowned with an ogre-faced Onigawara tile, giving the end a heavier, more formal finish.

The rest of the wall uses the same rounded river cobbles as the east earthen wall, so standing at the end you can compare the rounded cobbles with the squared blocks side by side.

Seeing the West Earthen Wall

The south end of the Tanaka Family Residence West Earthen Wall faces the road, so the dressed stone and ogre tile can be seen from the street. The northern stretch lies inside the property, and it has not been announced whether visitors can see it.