Kikusuiro Front Gate

An Edo-Period Temple Gate on Sanjo-dori

The Kikusuiro Front Gate (菊水楼表門, Kikusuirō Omotemon) is the main gate of the Kikusuiro ryotei in Takabatake-cho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, a wooden Yakuimon gate said to have been built in the Edo period and moved here in the Meiji era, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on December 4, 2000. It is 2.4 meters wide and has a tiled roof.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs places the Kikusuiro Front Gate on the south side of Sanjo-dori, the street that ends at the first torii of Kasuga Taisha. Tradition holds that it was originally the gate of a Tatchū sub-temple of Enjoji (圓成寺, also written 円成寺) and was moved to its present site in the Meiji era. The database gives its date as "Edo period, moved in the Meiji period," with a construction range of 1615 to 1867 and a relocation range of 1868 to 1911.

Why the Front Gate Was Registered

The Kikusuiro Front Gate carries registration number 29-0032 and was listed under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The agency writes that this yakuimon, roofed in Hongawarabuki round-and-flat tiles, has a dignity that makes the story of its temple origin easy to believe, and that it lends formality to the front of a long-established dining inn. A gate made for a temple found a second role as the entrance to a Meiji-era restaurant.

Nara City's plan for maintaining and improving its historic character lists the Kikusuiro Front Gate among its historic landscape buildings and ties it to the theme of visits to shrines, temples and famous places. Its position right in front of the first torii of Kasuga Taisha lies behind that classification.

What to Look For in the Front Gate

A yakuimon carries its gabled roof on two main posts, which hold the doors, and two shorter rear posts called Hikaebashira. Viewing the Kikusuiro Front Gate from Sanjo-dori, look for the depth this gives the gate, with the rear posts set back behind the main ones, and look closely at the roof.

The roof of the Kikusuiro Front Gate is laid in hongawarabuki, with flat tiles and rounded cover tiles alternating, the heavy style long used on temple buildings. The Kikusuiro Garden Gate, said to have come from the same temple, has lighter pan tiles (Sangawara-buki) and is narrower at 1.9 meters. Compare the two and you will see that the Front Gate keeps much more of the weighty roof of a temple gate.

Behind the Front Gate rises the 3-story Main Building of 1901. In its commentary on the Main Building, the agency treats the view from Sanjo-dori as a pairing of the two, so take in the gate and the building behind it as a single scene.

Visiting the Kikusuiro Front Gate

Because it faces Sanjo-dori, the Kikusuiro Front Gate can be seen from outside at any time. The operator's description of its evening kaiseki course speaks of passing through a registered gate on the way to a private room. It does not say which gate, but the main gate opening onto Sanjo-dori is the Kikusuiro Front Gate.

The Kikusuiro Front Gate stands right on the street, so if you stop for photographs, keep clear of passing people and cars. Directions and restaurant hours are on the Kikusuiro page.