Tatsumi Family Residence Earthen Wall

A Wall That Circles the Whole Estate

The Tatsumi Family Residence Earthen Wall (辰巳家住宅土塀, Tatsumi-ke Jūtaku Dobei) is an earthen wall built in 1915 in Hōryūji-nishi, Ikaruga Town, Nara Prefecture, and registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property on April 24, 2001. It encloses all four sides of the Tatsumi estate and runs for 236 meters.

It is registered as a structure other than a building, the only one of the estate's 13 entries that is not a building. The official description nonetheless calls it a principal element of the estate's grand layout, and from the outside it is most of what you see.

Clay Finish, Molded Eaves, Tiled Coping

The wall is finished throughout in nakanuri, the intermediate clay coat that would normally be covered by a final layer of white Shikkui plaster. Here the clay coat was left as the surface, so instead of white, the wall shows the warm color of earth.

Along the top, the eaves are built up in stepped plaster moldings and capped with a tiled roof. Those two bands, moldings and tiles, draw a long horizontal line along the lane.

On the north side, the front of the estate, the wall rises one step higher than elsewhere, adding height where the gatehouse and First Storehouse stand. The section running west from the gatehouse is included in the gatehouse's own registration.

Tortoise-Shell Stonework and a Curving South Face

The Tatsumi Family Residence Earthen Wall stands on an Ishigaki stone base laid in kikkō-zumi, the tortoise-shell pattern, with stones shaped into near-hexagons and fitted so closely that the official description says there is not a hair's gap between them.

On the south side the stone base rises high and bends in a smooth curve. Where the other sides run straight, the masonry itself becomes the feature here.

The wall was registered, as number 29-0057, under the criterion for contributing to the historic landscape. An unbroken 236-meter line of wall and stone gives the estate a sharp outline within Nishizato.

On March 26, 2026, the Council for Cultural Affairs recommended registering another Tatsumi item, a gate and wall that close off the north garden inside the estate. That is a separate property from this perimeter wall.

Visiting

The Tatsumi Family Residence Earthen Wall is the easiest of the estate's registered structures to see. Walking around the compound, you can see the raised north section, the storehouse gables above the east side, and the high curving stonework on the south, as far as the lanes allow.

The tortoise-shell pattern is clearest where the stone base is tallest, on the south side. Behind the wall is a private home, and as of September 2026 no opening had been announced. Do not touch the wall or climb the stonework. Directions are on the Tatsumi Family Residence page.