Matsumoto Family Residence North Compound Gatehouse

About the Matsumoto Family Residence North Compound Gatehouse

The Matsumoto Family Residence North Compound Gatehouse (松本家住宅北屋敷門屋, Matsumoto-ke Jūtaku Kita-yashiki Mon'ya) is a one-storey timber gatehouse of the early Showa period (1926 to 1945) on the street side of the North Compound of the Matsumoto estate in Kodera, Koryo Town, Nara Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2017.

The Matsumoto Family Residence North Compound Gatehouse has a tiled roof and a building area of 39 m², and the registration includes an attached board fence. It was renovated in 1994.

Lodge, Gate and Fence in One

A watchman's lodge occupies the west end, and a gate and fence the east, all joined into a single building. A storage closet is attached to the north side of the lodge, inside the compound.

Just as the front gate of the South Compound has its gatekeeper's room, the entrance to the North Compound has a lodge for someone to keep watch. Even the plot devoted to rice and farm work had its comings and goings observed.

The east end bends slightly to follow the shape of the plot, the building adjusted to the land rather than the other way round, a common solution in a moated village where lanes rarely run straight.

Framing the Village Street

From the road, the Matsumoto Family Residence North Compound Gatehouse presents one continuous wall: tall vertical boarding below and white Shikkui plaster above. The divisions between lodge, gate and fence barely show from outside.

Across the road stand the front gate, the clay walls and the northeast barn of the South Compound. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the gatehouse and the front gate together shape the street, and it was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. With matching walls on both sides, the road seems to pass through the middle of a single family's estate.

Seeing the Matsumoto Family Residence North Compound Gatehouse

The Matsumoto Family Residence North Compound Gatehouse belongs to a private home and visitors cannot go through the gate.

It faces the road, so it can be seen along with the front gate. From the south side of the road, near the front gate, the full length of boarding and plaster and the slight bend at the east end are clear. Please photograph only from the public road and do not linger at the gate. Directions are on the Matsumoto Family Residence (Koryo Town) page.