What the Middle Gate Is
Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate stands inside the estate at Imai in Okaya City, Nagano Prefecture, facing east in front of the main house; it is Meiji-era work and was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property on 14 October 1999.
It is a single-bay Yakuimon with a pair of plank doors, 2.1 metres wide and 0.8 metres deep, roofed in copper sheet. Earthen walls run from both sides, joining the main house to the north and the front gate to the south.
Those walls are built Shinkabe fashion with the posts exposed, finished in white Shikkui plaster above and Shitami-itabari boarding at the base. Gate and wall were registered together because neither divides the ground without the other.
Why It Was Registered
Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate was listed as contributing to the historic landscape. Its work is to separate the entrance forecourt from the garden, and it preserves the internal division of the estate.
From the outside inward the sequence runs front gate, middle gate, formal entrance. A visitor from the highway passed one threshold, then a second, before standing at the step. A double gate of this kind belongs to the plan of a house that had to receive officials and lords.
What to Look For
The contrast in size is the quickest thing to read. The front gate on the old Nakasendo has a 5.1 metre frontage; Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate has 2.1 metres. Same gate type, two very different scales, one turned outward and one inward.
The roof is sheet copper, and at 0.8 metres deep it reads almost as a line laid over the white wall. Below it the boarding at the base of the wall gives another horizontal, so the eye picks up three stacked bands: dark boards, white plaster, metal ridge.
Visiting
Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate sits behind the front gate, so it is seen through the outer opening. The two gates line up, and from directly in front of the front gate the inner roof and the white plastered wall appear beyond it.
The estate is a private home; the grounds cannot be entered and the interiors are closed. Photograph from the old Nakasendo road. Questions about access go to the cultural properties staff of the Okaya City Board of Education. (Checked in September 2026.)
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Nagano
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Q&A
- Where is Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate?
- Inside the estate, facing east in front of the main house and set behind the front gate on the old Nakasendo.
- Can Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate be seen from the road?
- Part of its roof and the white plastered wall show through the opening of the front gate, because the two gates are aligned.
- How big is Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate?
- It is a single-bay yakuimon 2.1 metres wide and 0.8 metres deep with a copper-sheet roof, flanked by earthen walls.
- When was Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate built?
- In the Meiji era, which makes it later than the late Edo front gate on the highway.
- How are the walls beside Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate built?
- With exposed posts in shinkabe fashion, white plaster above and horizontal boarding at the base; they run to the main house on the north and the front gate on the south.
Basic Information
| Name | Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate |
|---|---|
| Location | 1832 Imai, Okaya City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 1999/10/14 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber yakuimon gate, copper-sheet roof, 2.1 metre frontage, 0.8 metre depth, with earthen walls |
| Owner | Private individual (not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (exterior only, from the old Nakasendo road) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001388
- Cultural Heritage Online: Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Middle Gate
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/137158
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Imai Family Residence (Imai Okoyasumi Honjin) Front Gate
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001387
Last verified: 2026.09.15
