Yamada Liquor Store (Haseji Teahouse) Wall

A 28-Meter Wall Along the Approach

The Yamada Liquor Store (Haseji Teahouse) Wall (山田酒店（茶房長谷路）塀, Yamada Saketen Sabō Haseji Hei) is an early Taishō-period timber board wall that closes off the south side of the Yamada Liquor Store lot along the Hasedera temple approach in Hatsuse, Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on December 4, 2000. It runs for 28 meters.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Yamada Liquor Store wall is joined to the main house and extends from it along the south edge of the site. Halfway along it opens the garden gate, which is the teahouse entrance. From the approach, the shop front of the main house followed by this wall and its gate forms the street face of Yamada Liquor Store.

The Agency's database dates the wall to the early Taishō period, giving the span as 1912 to 1925.

Vertical Boards Below, Grey Plaster Above

The Yamada Liquor Store wall changes material partway up. The lower band is clad in vertical boards (Tateita-bari), the upper part is finished in grey nezumi-shikkui plaster, and a coping of pantiles runs along the top.

Boards at the base generally take the wear from rain splash and passing traffic. The grey plaster is quieter than white and does not stand out among the houses of the approach. Vertical board lines, a flat plaster face and the horizontal line of the tiles repeat in the same rhythm for all 28 meters.

The same combination of boards and grey plaster is used on the sleeve walls of the garden gate, and the tea room walls are grey plaster too, so the whole outer face from the approach to the garden entrance shares one finish.

The Designer and the Townscape

In its note on the Yamada Liquor Store wall, the Agency records that the wall, like the teahouse zashiki, the tea room and the garden gate, was designed by the grandfather of the owner at the time of registration, whose name it gives as 山田新. These four are the only structures of the six with a named designer, and the note on the wall is the only place the Agency says the early Taishō remodelling was the work of one hand.

The wall carries registration number 29-0044 and was registered as contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency considers it an important element of the townscape along the pilgrims' road to Hasedera.

The street face of Yamada Liquor Store is made up of three registered structures: the main house shop front, this wall and the garden gate. Half of the six stand on the side visible from the road, so what pilgrims see as they walk past is itself registered heritage.

Visiting the Wall of Yamada Liquor Store

Because it faces the approach, the Yamada Liquor Store wall can be seen at any time, even on days the teahouse is closed. Walk it end to end to get a sense of its 28 meters, and step close to see where the boards give way to plaster.

You go inside the wall only when entering Haseji Teahouse through the garden gate. According to the Sakurai City Tourism Association, the teahouse opens from 11:00 a.m. and has no fixed closing day. Please do not touch or lean on the wall, and keep clear of other walkers when taking photos from the approach.