Kokawa Family Residence Front Gate

About the Kokawa Family Residence Front Gate

The Kokawa Family Residence Front Gate (粉川家住宅表門, Kokawa-ke Jūtaku Omotemon) is a timber gate built in 1923 in Takabatakecho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, and entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 7, 2008. It has a tiled roof, a frontage of 2.4 m and sleeve walls on both sides.

The gate stands about 6 m back from the south edge of the plot, its ridge running east to west. In front of it lies a forecourt enclosed by the stone wall, so the entrance to the Kokawa Family Residence is reached by first stepping in from the road.

A Yakuimon Built Entirely of Keyaki

The Kokawa Family Residence Front Gate is a Yakuimon, a gate whose roof sits on two main posts and two rear posts set behind them. Its Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof is laid in Hongawarabuki full traditional tiling, and the opening is 2.4 m wide. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as built entirely of Keyaki, the hard, strongly figured zelkova wood.

Look at the gable end and you will see a splayed strut, a bachizuka, topped by a bearing block and bracket arm. The eaves have a single layer of widely spaced rafters. Against the weight of the tiled roof the eaves are kept spare, letting the zelkova speak for itself.

Stone-Based Sleeve Walls and a Wicket

Sleeve walls flank the Kokawa front gate. The eastern one, 1.6 m long, runs to the northwest corner of the annex; the western one is 2.2 m long. Both stand on stone bases and carry full tiling like the gate.

The east sleeve wall holds a kuguri, a small wicket door that lets people pass without opening the main leaves, and everyday comings and goings probably used it. With the servants' quarters of the annex just to the east, gate, sleeve walls and row read as one planned entrance.

Why the Kokawa Front Gate Was Registered

The Kokawa Family Residence Front Gate was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Set back behind a forecourt framed by stone, the zelkova gate and its sleeve walls are the face the Kokawa Family Residence presents to the road in Takabatake.

Seeing the Kokawa Family Residence Front Gate

The Kokawa Family Residence Front Gate belongs to a private home, and you cannot go through it (checked October 2026). It faces the road on the south side, so the exterior can be seen from the street. Because the gate is set back behind the forecourt, viewing it from a little distance along with the stone wall makes it easier to take in the sleeve walls and the annex beside it. There is no official guidance on photography, so avoid capturing the house beyond the gate. Directions to the estate are on the Kokawa Family Residence page.