Tokuyama Family Residence Stone Wall

A Wall of Local Stone at the Gateway

The Tokuyama Family Residence Stone Wall (渡久山家住宅石垣, Tokuyama-ke Jūtaku Ishigaki) is an early Shōwa-period Ishigaki built at the gateway of the Tokuyama homestead in Ōkawa, Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 October 2007.

The Tokuyama Family Residence Stone Wall stands at the gateway on the southern corner of the plot. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs it has two parts: a 15-metre run of wall facing the front of the main house, and a second wall laid out in a U shape. The structure entry gives the total length as 20 metres.

It is built of awa-ishi (粟石), a locally quarried stone, laid in level courses in the Nunozumi manner to a height of about 2 metres. Standing at the gateway, you face a stone surface taller than a person.

Why It Was Registered: A Local Custom Reworked for a Corner Plot

The Tokuyama Family Residence Stone Wall was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. As the wall that meets the street at the gateway, it helps set the look of this part of Ōkawa.

The Agency's description makes a second point. In this area the usual practice is to build a wall called a maigusuku directly in front of the main house, a free-standing stone screen that stops passers-by looking straight in through the gate. Across Okinawa this kind of screen is more widely known as a hinpun.

Rather than copy the standard form, the builders adapted it to a corner site, pairing a long wall in front of the house with a U-shaped enclosure. The Agency describes the result as a distinctive arrangement, and that adaptation of a fixed convention to an awkward plot is what sets it apart.

What to Look For: The 15-Metre Front and the U-Shaped Enclosure

When looking at the Tokuyama Family Residence Stone Wall, take the two parts separately: the 15-metre run facing the main house, and the U-shaped section. Around the gateway they combine to put a stone barrier between the street and the house.

Look at the stone as well. Awa-ishi also appears in the furiya on the same property, mixed there with Ryukyu limestone. Here it is used on its own, laid in even courses that give the face a tidy, regular look.

At about 2 metres, the wall is seen from below when you stand in the road, which makes the number of courses and the run of the joints easy to follow.

Viewing the Stone Wall

Of the four registered parts of the homestead, the Tokuyama Family Residence Stone Wall is the easiest to see. It faces the gateway on the southern corner of the plot, so its outer face can be viewed from the street.

The house is a private home, however, and the grounds cannot be entered. Please do not look in through the gateway, climb the wall or lean on it. If you take photographs, choose a spot that does not block the household or vehicles coming and going.