What the Former Jimon-in Front Gate Is
Former Jimon-in Front Gate (Suhara Family Residence Front Gate), at Tonomine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, is an early-Meiji-period Nagayamon gatehouse that became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 3 April 2020. Of the five listed buildings in the compound, this gate is the only one from the Meiji years.
It was built between 1868 and 1882. Standing on the stone retaining wall along the south edge of the plot, it is a single-storey timber structure with an Irimoya-zukuri roof in Sangawara-buki tiles, covering 29 square metres. The doors are set slightly west of centre, and a flight of stone steps climbs to them. Wall, steps and gate stack up into the face the compound turns outward.
A Nagayamon is a gate with rooms built into the wings on either side of the opening. Here the west wing is a workroom and the east wing a store, with a low veranda running from the east round to the north. This was never a structure for passing through and nothing else.
Why the Former Jimon-in Front Gate Was Listed
The Former Jimon-in Front Gate was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the way it gives the compound its frontage. It is the first building anyone approaching along the Tonomine road meets, and it decides what the property looks like from outside.
The date is worth dwelling on. The other four buildings run from the middle to the end of the Edo period; the gate alone belongs to early Meiji. That places it just after 1869, when the separation of Buddhism and Shinto turned Myorakuji into Tanzan Shrine and Jimon-in into the home of a family serving that shrine. The gate went up at the moment when a temple entrance had to start working as the entrance to a house.
No primary source, however, states that the gate was rebuilt because of that change. The national database gives a range of years and nothing about the circumstances, and the connection should be read as timing rather than cause.
What to Look For at the Former Jimon-in Front Gate
Start at the doors. The timber around them is selected zelkova. A Kōryō, a curved tie beam, spans the head of the opening, and a Kaerumata strut sits above it in the space between the beam and the roof. Both are members that belong to shrine and temple architecture, and bringing them to a gateway means anyone passing through registers the standing of the household. The assessors' remark about frontage comes down to this detail.
Then look down. The gate rests on the stone wall, and stone steps rise to the doors. Unlike a gate on level ground, this one obliges a visitor to climb before reaching the threshold, and the change in height does the work of separating inside from outside.
Third, look to either side. A workroom on the west, a store on the east: formality and daily use in the same structure. Most of the 29 square metres belongs to those two rooms, and the veranda that turns from east to north confirms that the Former Jimon-in Front Gate stood in contact with the working life of the household.
Access to the Former Jimon-in Front Gate
The Former Jimon-in Front Gate is privately owned, and neither the gatehouse interior nor the grounds are open. No open day or special opening is recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database or on the Sakurai City cultural properties pages. There is no arrangement for viewing the workroom or the store.
The zelkova joinery, the tie beam and the strut above it are all documented with photographs and descriptive text in the national database, which is the place to go for the detailing of the Former Jimon-in Front Gate.
Directions to the compound and the visiting conditions that apply to all of Former Jimon-in (Suhara Family Residence) are set out on the group page.
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Q&A
- Can the Former Jimon-in Front Gate be visited?
- No. It is privately owned, neither the gatehouse nor the grounds are open, and no visiting arrangements are published.
- When was the Former Jimon-in Front Gate built?
- Between 1868 and 1882, in the early Meiji period. It is the only building of the five that dates from Meiji.
- What kind of gate is the Former Jimon-in Front Gate?
- A nagayamon, a gate with rooms in the wings either side of the opening. Here the west wing holds a workroom and the east wing a store.
- What timber was used around the doors of the Former Jimon-in Front Gate?
- Selected zelkova. A curved tie beam spans the head of the opening with a carved strut above it, members normally found in shrine and temple work.
- Why does the Former Jimon-in Front Gate stand on a stone wall?
- A retaining wall closes the south edge of the plot and the gate sits on top of it, with stone steps rising to the doors. The arrangement forms the frontage of the compound.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Jimon-in Front Gate (Suhara Family Residence Front Gate) |
|---|---|
| Location | 316 Tonomine, Sakurai, Nara Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 2020/4/3 (Reiwa 2) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber, tile roof, floor area 29 square metres |
| Owner | Private individual (not published in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | Not open. Neither interior nor grounds are open to visitors |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database: Former Jimon-in Front Gate
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013311
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Report of the Council for Cultural Affairs on new registrations, 15 November 2019
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/pdf/91972801_02.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.14
