Arakaki Family Residence Stone Wall

A Limestone Wall on Three Sides

Arakaki Family Residence Stone Wall (新垣家住宅石垣, Arakaki-ke Jūtaku Ishigaki) is a boundary wall built around 1896 along the south, west and north sides of a homestead in Shuri Sueyoshi, Naha City, Okinawa, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 31 July 2007. It runs for 58 metres in total.

It is 60 centimetres to 70 centimetres thick and stands anywhere from 1 metre to 1.8 metres high, rising and falling as it follows the edge of the plot.

Inside it are the main house, the hinpun screen, the furu and two ponds. Of the six registered items, this is the one that gives the whole compound its outline.

How the Stone Is Laid

The wall is Ryukyu limestone laid as Ranzumi, random coursing in which stones of different sizes and shapes are fitted together. Here the builders went further and dressed the faces after laying, so the wall reads as a flat surface rather than a rough one.

The finish is not uniform. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the section leading to the hinpun entrance has been dressed with particular precision. The most work went where visitors would arrive.

Why It Was Registered

The wall was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape; the Agency describes it as shaping the setting of the homestead.

A stone-walled yard, with its hinpun and its furu, is the framework of a traditional Okinawan homestead. At the Arakaki Family Residence the wall of around 1896 still stands on three sides, and the main house of 1956 was built within it. Together with the rest of the stonework, the Arakaki Family Residence Stone Wall is the oldest part of the homestead still standing.

What to Notice and Visiting

Look for the contrast between the irregular stones and their smoothed faces, and for the finer finish at the opening in front of the hinpun. The height changes between 1 metre and 1.8 metres, so notice where the wall has been built up.

The wall is part of a private home and is not open to the public. Because it follows the boundary, stretches of it may be visible from the road, but we have not confirmed which sections can be seen or from where. Do not touch or climb the wall, and keep residents and the inside of the grounds out of any photographs.