Ishimoto Family Residence Yokomon Gate and Side Corridor

What the Ishimoto Family Residence Yokomon Gate and Side Corridor Is

The Ishimoto Family Residence Yokomon Gate and Side Corridor (石本家住宅横門及び脇廻廊, Ishimoto-ke Jūtaku Yokomon oyobi Waki-kairō) are a late Meiji-era gate and covered walkway on the Ishimoto estate in Higashihoncho, Konan Ward, Niigata City, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2007.

They stand south of the main house, dividing the front garden from the inner courtyard. The yokomon is an Udekimon, an arm-bracketed gate, with a gabled pantile roof (Kirizuma-zukuri, Sangawara-buki). It is 2.1 m wide, and above its lintel sits a carving in the shape of the family crest.

The side corridor shares the same boundary. It is one bay (about 1.8 m) wide, roofed the same way, 12 m long and 13 m² in area.

Why the Ishimoto Family Residence Yokomon Gate and Side Corridor Were Registered

The Ishimoto Family Residence Yokomon Gate and Side Corridor were registered for "contributing to the historic landscape." The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the gate and corridor indispensable to the look of the estate.

Their job is to draw a line. Beyond the nagayamon lies the front garden, the first open space inside; beyond the Ishimoto Family Residence Yokomon Gate and Side Corridor lies the inner courtyard, enclosed by corridors. Moving through the estate, this is the point where you step one layer further in.

What to Look For at the Ishimoto Family Residence Yokomon Gate and Side Corridor

The carved crest over the yokomon is the most elaborate detail here. Setting the family crest on the face of the gate announces that what lies beyond belongs to the household. The sources do not identify which crest it is.

The side corridor has two different faces. Toward the courtyard it is open, just posts and roof, like a veranda. Toward the front garden it is closed with plastered Shinkabe walls, the posts left exposed, and a band of cedar bark along the lower part. From the front garden you see a white wall with a brown cedar-bark dado; from the courtyard, an open walkway.

Compare the two arm-bracketed gates on the estate. The early Showa front gate is roofed in copper and left plain above the lintel; the late Meiji yokomon has tiles and a carved crest. Period and purpose show in the details.

Seeing the Ishimoto Family Residence Yokomon Gate and Side Corridor

The Ishimoto Family Residence Yokomon Gate and Side Corridor stand inside the estate, in the gardens south of the main house, and cannot be approached from outside the property. They are part of a private home, and as of September 30, 2026 no public opening had been announced.

The carved crest and the cedar-bark dado are hard to see without entering the grounds, which is not permitted. Directions to the estate are on the Ishimoto Family Residence page.