Fujiya Ryokan Front Gate

What Is the Fujiya Ryokan Front Gate?

The Fujiya Ryokan Front Gate (冨士屋旅館前門, Fujiya Ryokan Maemon) is a wooden Yakuimon gate on the east side of the former Fujiya Ryokan in Kannawa, Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, built in 1898 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2001.

It is one bay wide, 2.1 m across, with a single opening, and its roof is laid with Sangawara-buki interlocking pantiles. The government database files it as a structure other than a building, while still counting it as one unit.

Why the Fujiya Ryokan Front Gate Was Registered

The Fujiya Ryokan Front Gate was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on the same day as the main house, steps and wall, as number 44-0070, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs values it as part of an entrance, not as a stand-alone structure. The gate faces the old formal entrance of the main house, and it sits a level above the lane on the east side of the site. For someone walking that lane, the agency notes, the gate works as an eye-stop: the point where the view comes to rest.

What to Look for at the Fujiya Ryokan Front Gate

How a yakuimon is built

In a yakuimon, each main post has a shorter rear post standing behind it, and a gabled roof spans both pairs. The ridge sits behind the main posts rather than directly over them, so seen side-on the roof appears to reach far forward over the opening. The Fujiya gate is small, only 2.1 m wide, and the easiest way to read the type is to step to one side and look at how the roof overhangs the front posts.

A line to the porch

Stand in front of the Fujiya Ryokan Front Gate and look straight through it. The gate is set so that the east front of the main house fills the opening, with the old shikidai porch directly ahead. Gate and porch share one axis, and according to the government description this is the line guests once followed into the inn.

Seen from below

The gate stands at the top of the stone steps, and the steps are exactly as wide as the gate, 2.1 m. The side stones of the flight run up to meet the gate posts, so from the lane the stone wall, the steps and the gate roof stack into a single composition. That view is what the agency means by an eye-stop.

Visiting the Fujiya Ryokan Front Gate

The Fujiya Ryokan Front Gate is on the east side of the site and can be seen from the lane there. Its current use as an entrance has not been confirmed, so follow the signs on site before walking through (checked October 1, 2026).

The best viewpoint is at the foot of the steps, where the gate lines up with the east front of the main house. Directions and opening hours for the main house are on the Fujiya Ryokan page.