Former Nakayama Family Residence Nagayamon Gate

Former Nakayama Family Residence Nagayamon Gate

The Former Nakayama Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (旧中山家住宅長屋門, Kyū Nakayama-ke Jūtaku Nagayamon) is the front gate of businessman Nakayama Setsutarō's estate in Tsurajima-chō Nishinoura, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, built around 1915 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 2, 2018.

A Nagayamon is a gatehouse with living quarters built into the wings on either side of the passage, a form associated with samurai residences and wealthy rural households. This one runs along the east edge of the estate and is 27 meters long; the preservation society's survey gives it as 15 by 2.5 ken. It has a hip-and-gable roof of hongawara tiles and a building area of 165 square meters. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a single-story timber building with a partial upper floor, while the preservation society counts its storage attic and calls it two-storied.

The other four registered buildings date from around 1914; the gate followed about a year later. It seems the house and storehouses went up first and the estate's public face was finished last.

Why the Nagayamon Gate Was Registered

The Former Nakayama Family Residence Nagayamon Gate was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to its great length and its fine zelkova timber, and likens it to a castle gate.

The preservation society returns again and again to the story that Setsutarō built the estate because his mother, Kano, wanted to live in a house like a castle. In the society's view, this gate is where that wish is met most directly, with the dignity of a samurai mansion's entrance.

Setsutarō was born into a low-ranking samurai family that served at a local administrative outpost, and he raised this gate on the hill above his home village after making his fortune in business.

What to Look For: Zelkova Doors and Plastered Eaves

Begin at the entrance passage. It opens near the middle of the building (slightly left of center, according to the preservation society) and is 3 ken wide. The double doors are made entirely of keyaki, Japanese zelkova, a hard, handsomely figured wood prized for temple and gate building, and the same timber is used for the heavy posts, the tie beams and the broad wall boards around them.

The walls on either side of the passage have a base of Namako-kabe, tile cladding with raised white plaster joints, and white Shikkui plaster above. The eaves are of the Degeta-zukuri type, with the outer beam carried on projecting brackets, and here even those brackets and beams are sealed in plaster. With no timber left showing, wall and eaves read as one white mass, and the Former Nakayama Family Residence Nagayamon Gate looks less like a house gate than a castle turret.

A board beside the doors bears the name Karōan. The preservation society says the estate was called Yōbien when it was built.

The wings contain living quarters. To the left as you enter are two connecting rooms of eight and six mats that housed servants, the larger with an alcove and cupboards. The right wing originally held a storeroom, a bath and a toilet; part of the storeroom was later converted into rooms of six and three mats for maids.

Visiting the Nagayamon Gate

The Former Nakayama Family Residence Nagayamon Gate is the way into the estate, so every visitor on an opening day passes through it. Standing outside, you can take in the full 27-meter run of white wall under its tiled roof.

The grain of the zelkova doors and posts is best appreciated at arm's length as you walk through the passage. The rooms inside the gate wings are not always open, so ask at reception.

The estate publishes no photography rules for the gate, so check with reception if in doubt. The Former Nakayama Family Residence page explains how to get here and when the estate is open.