What the Kodama Family Residence Front Gate Is
The Kodama Family Residence Front Gate is a timber gate of about 1901 in the Wa district of Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2000 under the number 20-0083.
It stands set back a little from the old Matsushiro to Netsu highway. The pantiled gable roof covers a 3-bay gate of the four-legged type, with a small wicket door in each flanking bay. The gate is 7.5 metres wide, and wing walls of 8.9 metres and 3.6 metres run out from it.
The panels of the doors are single boards of zelkova. Both the choice of a formal gate type and the choice of timber say what kind of household built this compound.
Why It Was Registered
The listing criterion is contribution to the historic landscape. The national register describes the gate, the hexagonal-pattern stone wall and the turret-like storehouse as combining into the castle-style frontage once considered the ideal for a wealthy farming house.
The gate is not meant to be read alone. It belongs with the roadside stonework, the storehouse on the corner and the west gate at the southwest angle, and it is the survival of those relationships across the whole site that justified registering 12 structures together.
What to Look For
Look at the door panels first. Each is a single unjointed board of zelkova, a generous use of timber at this scale, and the grain runs the full height of the door.
Notice also that the gate sits back from the road. The gap lets the front of the gate and both wing walls enter the field of view at once, which makes the frontage read as larger than its measurements.
The wicket doors in the flanking bays were for everyday use, so that the main leaves stayed shut. Formality and practicality were built into the same structure.
Visiting the Kodama Family Residence Front Gate
The gate faces the public road and can be seen at any time. The best position is across the road, where the wing walls and the stonework come into the frame with it.
Passing through the gate is possible on the days the café inside the compound is open. On other days this is the entrance to a private home, so view it from outside. Photographing the exterior from the road presents no problem.
Directions and viewing conditions for the compound are on the Kodama Family Residence page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Nagano
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Kodama Family Residence Front Gate
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Q&A
- When was the Kodama Family Residence Front Gate built?
- The national register dates it to about 1901, the same phase as the storehouse and the row house.
- What type of gate is the Kodama Family Residence Front Gate?
- A 3-bay four-legged gate under a pantiled gable roof, 7.5 metres wide, with a wicket door in each flanking bay.
- What are the gate doors made of?
- The door panels are single unjointed boards of zelkova, noted in the national register as high-quality work.
- Can visitors see the Kodama Family Residence Front Gate?
- The exterior is visible from the road at any time, and the gate can be passed on café opening days.
- Why is the front gate on the national register?
- It was listed for contributing to the historic landscape, forming a castle-style frontage together with the stone wall and the storehouse.
Basic Information
| Name | Kodama Family Residence Front Gate |
|---|---|
| Location | 7785 Oaza Wa, Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2000 (Heisei 12) |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Timber, tile roof, 7.5 metres wide, with wing walls of 8.9 metres and 3.6 metres |
| Owner | Yamatama Limited Company |
| Public Access | Exterior visible from the public road; entry on café opening days |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Kodama Family Residence Front Gate
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001820
- Tomi City: Kodama Family Residence
- https://www.city.tomi.nagano.jp/category/kenzobutsu/160195.html
Last verified: 2026.09.17
