Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence Garden Wall

A Roofed Wall Around the Formal Garden

The Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence Garden Wall (利久堂酒井家住宅庭塀, Rikyūdō Sakai-ke Jūtaku Niwabei) is a roofed earthen wall in Kawai Shinden, Nagano City, built around 1887 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2001. It belongs to the homestead of the Kitamura family, a household of doctors, and was built to enclose the formal garden in front of the Main House.

It is an earthen wall capped with tile, 18 meters long. The Agency for Cultural Affairs classes it as an "other structure" rather than a building, yet it was registered on the same day as the house and gate, one of five entries for the estate.

A Line That Orders the Grounds

The Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence Garden Wall carries registration number 20-0104. Like the Nagayamon Gate, it was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

Its job is to separate two kinds of space: the forecourt that visitors cross on their way to the front door, and the garden that the family viewed from its reception rooms. At 18 meters the wall is not long, but that single line is enough to divide the public approach from the private garden, and it makes the hierarchy of the grounds visible. That is where its value lies.

What to Notice at the Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence Garden Wall

The Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence Garden Wall starts beside the entrance of the Main House, on the side of the reception rooms, and runs south toward the Nagayamon Gate. Just before reaching the gate it turns east, closing off the south side of the garden. On a plan it forms an L.

Partway along, a small middle gate opens in the wall. Its ridge is raised a step above the rest of the wall roof, so the opening announces itself along the line of tiles.

The most interesting detail is that the two faces are finished differently. The side facing the entrance is plastered smooth in the manner of a solid earthen wall. The side facing the garden is treated like Shinkabe construction, with the posts left visible as in a building wall. On the garden side the wall is also braced every 3 Ken by supports made of stone posts and iron rods. One reading is that the wall shows a heavy, protective face to arriving guests and a more refined, architectural face to the family looking out from the reception rooms.

Seeing the Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence Garden Wall

The Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence Garden Wall stands inside the grounds, between the gate and the house. The estate is private and no public opening has been announced (checked September 2026). Comparing the two faces would require entering the property, so for now opportunities to see the wall in person are limited.

Please do not peer through or step into the gateway to look for it. Questions about visits or research go to the Cultural Properties Division of Nagano City, and directions to the estate are on the Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence page.