Okahashi Family Residence Nagayamon Gate

About the Okahashi Family Residence Nagayamon Gate

The Okahashi Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (岡橋家住宅長屋門, Okahashi-ke Jūtaku Nagayamon) is an early Showa-period gatehouse on the south side of the Okahashi estate in Ozukucho, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 17 August 2020 (No. 29-0316).

A Nagayamon is a gate built into a long, low range of rooms, and this one runs about 30 metres. It is a single-storey timber building with an Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles and a lean-to (Geya) along its north side, facing into the estate. At 142 square metres of building area it is the second largest of the fifteen Okahashi buildings registered that day, after the main house.

The gateway itself is pushed to the eastern end, a single opening with a small side door for everyday use. West of it, in one line, come a gatekeeper's room, four storerooms and a room for household servants. It reads less as a gate than as a long building that happens to contain one.

Why the Nagayamon was registered

The Okahashi Family Residence Nagayamon Gate was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles it out for giving the front of the estate its weight and formality.

In the Edo period gatehouses of this kind are generally associated with samurai residences and with the houses of village officials such as headmen, which the Okahashi were. What makes this one interesting is its date. A family that had rebuilt its main house in the Taisho era still chose the old, status-laden form when it put up a new front gate in the early Showa years.

At the southeast corner stands the small south rice storehouse, and the Agency describes the two as forming one corner of the estate's frontage. Between them, the nagayamon and the storehouse are what a passer-by sees of the Okahashi Family Residence.

What to look for on the Okahashi Nagayamon

Look first at the eaves. The Okahashi Nagayamon carries them on projecting beams in the degeta manner (Degeta-zukuri): short brackets run out from the wall and hold a purlin that supports a deep overhang. Repeated at even intervals along 30 metres, the brackets throw a steady row of shadows across the wall below.

The wall is finished in white Shikkui plaster above and vertical boarding (Tateita-bari) below. The line between the two runs almost dead level for the full length, which makes the building look longer still.

Then notice the gateway. Beside the main doors is a small wicket, so everyday comings and goings probably used the side door, with the big leaves opened for guests or loads. The gatekeeper's room sits right next to the opening, which fits that pattern of use.

Visiting the Nagayamon

Because it forms part of the perimeter, the Okahashi Family Residence Nagayamon Gate can be seen from the road on the south side. The gate is kept closed, and the gatekeeper's room and storerooms are not open to visitors.

The facade faces south, so the bracket shadows show well during the day. The lane is narrow and it is hard to fit the whole length into one view; it works better to take the eastern gateway end and the western end separately. Directions to the estate and general visiting conditions are on the Okahashi Family Residence page.