The Gate Beside the Formal Entrance
Hoashi Family Main Residence (Fushunkan) Middle Gate (帆足家本家住宅（富春館）中門, chūmon) is a timber gate of the late Edo period in Nakahetsugi, Oita City, Oita Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2006.
It stands beside the west end of the main house's formal Shikidai entrance and divides the entrance court from the garden south of the house. It is an udegimon, a bracket-arm gate one bay wide, under a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles, with short flanking walls, Sodobei, on either side. The opening is a modest 1.4 metres. In a bracket-arm gate the roof rests on arms projecting fore and aft from the posts, with no rear struts, which made it a common choice for the inner gates of houses.
From the gate a roofed earthen wall runs south for 12 metres, then turns west just short of the pawn storehouse. The Agency for Cultural Affairs includes that wall in this registration.
Why It Was Registered
Hoashi Family Main Residence (Fushunkan) Middle Gate was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency credits it with separating the entrance court from the south garden and so creating a dignified space in front of the main entrance.
What matters here is less the gate than the space it makes. A visitor coming through the front gate has the garden screened off by the middle gate and its wall and is led straight to the formal entrance. The garden stayed apart from the public space before the door, a place for the family and invited guests.
It belongs, like the main house and the front gate, to the late Edo years, and together with the main entrance it preserves the layout of a house of the closing Edo years.
What to Look For
Stand in front of the main entrance and work out where the gate and wall divide the ground. The gate is to your left as you face the house, on the west, with the garden beyond it.
Under the eaves you can see the bracket arms projecting from the posts to take the roof. At 1.4 metres the opening is about one person wide; the difference in size from the front gate tells you the difference in purpose.
Find the point where the wall turns short of the pawn storehouse. Right there the entrance court, the garden and the storehouse all meet.
Visiting
Hoashi Family Main Residence (Fushunkan) Middle Gate can be seen from in front of the main house whenever Hoashi Honke Fushunkan is open. There is no need to go indoors; the gate and wall are both in the open.
From the garden side you see them from the back. Looking from both sides is the quickest way to understand what the gate separates. Photographing outdoors should pose no problem.
Directions and general visiting conditions for the estate are on the Hoashi Family Main Residence (Fushunkan) page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Oita
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Hoashi Family Main Residence (Fushunkan) Middle Gate
- [ Beppu Hell Tour & Yufuin Onsen Hot Springs ]
Q&A
- Where is Hoashi Family Main Residence (Fushunkan) Middle Gate?
- Beside the west end of the main house's formal entrance, dividing the entrance court from the garden south of the house.
- What type of gate is Hoashi Family Main Residence (Fushunkan) Middle Gate?
- A timber bracket-arm gate, one bay wide, with a gabled pantiled roof and flanking walls. The opening is 1.4 metres.
- How long is the wall attached to the Fushunkan middle gate?
- It runs 12 metres south from the gate, then turns west short of the pawn storehouse. The wall is part of the same registration.
- When was the Hoashi middle gate built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Edo period without giving an exact year.
- Why is the Fushunkan middle gate a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, for creating a dignified forecourt before the main entrance.
Basic Information
| Name | Hoashi Family Main Residence (Fushunkan) Middle Gate |
|---|---|
| Location | 4381-1 Nakahetsugi, Oita City, Oita Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2006/11/29 (Heisei 18) |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Timber, tiled roof, frontage 1.4 metres, with flanking walls and 12 metres of attached wall |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Viewable from inside the grounds during opening hours |
References
- National Designated Cultural Properties Database, Hoashi Family Main Residence (Fushunkan) Middle Gate (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006076
- Cultural Heritage Online, Hoashi Family Main Residence (Fushunkan) Middle Gate
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/143341
- List of Nationally Designated and Selected Cultural Properties (Oita Prefecture)
- https://www.pref.oita.jp/kyoiku/tmp/bunka/post-101/1.pdf
- Visitor Information and Access (Hoashi Honke)
- https://www.hoashi-honke.com/about.html
- Hoashi Honke (Fushunkan and Garden) (Oita City Tourist Association)
- https://www.oishiimati-oita.jp/spot/374
Last verified: 2026.09.26
