Tanaka Honke Museum East and North Earthen Walls

What the Tanaka Honke Museum East and North Earthen Walls Are

The Tanaka Honke Museum East and North Earthen Walls (田中本家博物館東及び北土塀) are early Meiji-period roofed walls enclosing the east side and the eastern part of the north side of the Tanaka merchant estate in Suzaka City, Nagano Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 19 September 2003.

Turning a corner as they go, they run for a total of about 80 metres, the longest of the registered structures on the estate. They are unusually deep, with a span of 2.3 metres, and carry a roof of pantiles.

Storehouses form the west and south sides and the western part of the north side. Where there are no storehouses, on the east and northeast, these walls close the boundary.

Why the East and North Earthen Walls Were Registered

The Tanaka Honke Museum East and North Earthen Walls were registered as contributing to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls them indispensable to a large estate and credits them with giving order to the back of the property.

They are more than a fence. The inner side is left open, the outer side is finished in lime plaster, and partition walls at intervals divide the depth into bays that were used for storage. From outside, a white wall; from inside, a long roofed store.

What to Look For: A Wall That Doubles as a Shed

A depth of 2.3 metres is extraordinary for a wall. Stand on the inner side and you see a line of bays under the roof, a long run of shelter for firewood and tools.

The plastered outer face matches the East Storehouse at the southeast corner, whose outer wall is plastered right up to the eaves. Storehouse and wall join in one white surface, so the perimeter reads as a continuous wall.

Stand at the corner where the east side turns to the north and you can feel the depth of the estate and the scale of a boundary closed entirely by storehouses and walls.

Visiting the East and North Earthen Walls

The open inner side of the Tanaka Honke Museum East and North Earthen Walls is seen from the east part of the estate after entering. The bays divided by partitions are visible only from inside.

Opening days and admission are on the Tanaka Honke Museum page.