Yagi Family Residence Well

What Is the Yagi Family Residence Well?

The Yagi Family Residence Well (屋宜家住宅井戸, Yagi-ke Jūtaku Ido) in Ōton, Yaese Town, Shimajiri District, Okinawa Prefecture, is a stone-built household well made in 1952 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 2, 2009.

The national record lists it as a stone structure covering 3.6 square meters, counted as one unit. It is one of five registered elements of the Yagi homestead, alongside the main house, asagi, hinpun and stone wall, and it was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

How the Well Is Made

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Yagi Family Residence Well lies east of the main house's rear room, set a little below the level of the road. A round pit was dug into the ground to collect rainwater, which the household used for daily needs.

Above ground, a rim rises along the circumference of the pit and is finished in mortar. Around it, dressed stones are laid in an L shape, bracing the round rim on two sides. The stone is Ryukyu limestone from Minatogawa in the same town, the source of the stone for the homestead's hinpun and boundary wall.

The Agency registered it as an example of a water-storage installation built within a homestead. Although it is called a well, the official description identifies its water as rain, and treats the structure as a place where rainwater was kept for household use.

The Well in the Life of the Yagi Household

The family recalls that the former village of Gushikami, which is now part of Yaese, was slow to get piped water, and drinking water was hard to come by. Households without a well caught rainwater, even collecting the water that ran down tree trunks into containers. With the Yagi Family Residence Well on hand, the family never went short.

At New Year the first water drawn in the morning, called wakamizu, was offered to the ancestors. The family speaks of the well as the source of the water that kept them alive.

Yagi Matsu, who planned the homestead with fengshui in mind, is said to have chosen the well's position with care. On the family's plan it sits in the northeast corner, behind the main house.

What to Look for at the Well

Start with the shape. A round mortar rim is held from outside by an angular frame of cut stone, and the contrast between curve and straight edge is easiest to appreciate up close.

Then look at the stone. The same Minatogawa limestone appears in the hinpun and the boundary wall, so following it from the entrance to the back of the main house shows that the Yagi Family Residence Well was planned as part of the whole homestead.

Its position is telling too. Sitting a step below the road, the Yagi Family Residence Well fits the family's explanation that the homestead was built lower than the surrounding ground to keep out of typhoon winds.

Visiting the Well

The Yagi Family Residence Well is inside a private homestead, behind the main house. The grounds are open only to customers of the Yagiya restaurant during opening hours, and there is no published guidance on whether guests may walk over to the well. Ask the staff before going to look.

Do not sit on the rim, lean over to peer inside or drop anything in. There is also no official guidance on photography, so it is best to check with the restaurant before taking pictures.