Kusudo Family Residence Wall

Kusudo Family Residence Wall

The Kusudo Family Residence Wall (楠戸家住宅塀, Kusudo-ke Jūtaku Hei) is a roofed boundary wall from the mid-Meiji period that runs for 43 meters along the western edge of the Kusudo family estate in Higashimachi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on December 20, 1996.

The national register describes it as a timber structure with a tiled roof and a total length of 43 meters, and classifies it not as a building but as "other structure." Of the four registered parts of the Kusudo Family Residence, it is the only one that is not a building.

The wall begins at the street front on Higashimachi and follows the western property line back into the estate. On a long, narrow plot where the shop, courtyard, main house and storehouses follow one another toward the rear, this single wall traces one whole side.

Why the Wall Was Registered

The Kusudo Family Residence Wall carries registration number 33-0005 and was registered on the grounds that it would not be easy to reproduce. The Agency for Cultural Affairs values it as one of the elements that make up the estate of an upper-class Kurashiki townhouse of the Meiji period.

A townhouse is more than its main building. Only when you can see how the shop, storehouses and gardens were enclosed, and how they were separated from the street, does the whole estate come into focus. At the Kusudo Family Residence the storehouses frame the inner garden and this wall marks the western edge of the plot. It is one side of that frame.

According to the Agency, the wall is built differently along its length. The section facing the street, 3 ken long, is clad in boards. Along the property line, the lower part is built of cut stone and the upper part is finished in mortar. The face shown to the street and the part that holds the boundary with the neighbors were treated as two different jobs.

What to Look For: The Board Wall on the Street

From Higashimachi's main street you can see the front of the Kusudo Family Residence Wall: a board-clad wall 3 ken long under a tiled roof, standing alongside the kimono shop's facade. Watch where the vertical lines of the boards meet the horizontal run of the roof tiles.

Beyond this front section the construction changes. Along the boundary the wall rests on courses of cut stone with a mortar-rendered wall above. Like the stone footings of the Kusudo storehouses, the stone base keeps water and damp away from the wall.

At 43 meters, the wall is also a measuring stick for the estate. Picture how far it runs back beyond the 3 ken you can see from the street, and you get a feel for how deep a Meiji merchant's property reached.

Visiting the Wall

The front section can be seen from Higashimachi's main street at any time, free of charge. The ground behind the wall is a family home, and how much of the rear section you can see depends on where you stand.

There are no published rules about taking photographs from the street. Step back a little rather than stopping in front of the shop door. Directions are on the Kusudo Family Residence page.