Former Inoue Family Residence Front Gate

What Is the Former Inoue Family Residence Front Gate?

The Former Inoue Family Residence Front Gate (旧井上家住宅表門, Kyū-Inoue-ke Jūtaku Omotemon) is the main Nagayamon, or row-house gate, of a village headman's estate in Kusaka, Higashiosaka City, Osaka Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 15 August 2024.

The Former Inoue Family Residence Front Gate stands on the south side of the estate, set back a little from the road. The sloping lane in front, running east to west, is an old road called the Daidō. With a building area of 76 square meters, it is the largest of the estate's gates, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a long gatehouse that conveys the standing of an old family.

Conflicting Dates

The Former Inoue Family Residence Front Gate is registration number 27-0926, entered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

The sources disagree about its age. The Agency's database gives the late Edo period, between 1830 and 1868, in its dating field, with alterations in the early Taisho and mid-Showa periods, but its period field reads Meiji. Osaka Bunkazai Navi describes the Former Inoue Family Residence Front Gate as a rebuilding of the mid-Meiji period.

The sources checked do not show which is right, so this article simply sets out all three.

A Hipped-Roof Gatehouse

The Former Inoue Family Residence Front Gate has a Yosemune-zukuri hipped roof in Sangawara-buki tile, with its long side to the road, and a lower Ochimune roof on the east joining it to a barn. Most nagayamon have gabled roofs, and Osaka Bunkazai Navi singles out the hipped roof as unusual, reading it, with the gate's tall proportions, as an expression of the taste of its time.

The walls are plastered in Shikkui, with a base of clapboards held by thin vertical battens. The gateway sits a little east of center and is closed by a pair of hinged board doors, and each of the bays on either side of it has a small Kugurido wicket door.

There is one room east of the gateway and three to the west. In front of the Former Inoue Family Residence Front Gate stands a large stone lantern built mainly of Ikoma stone, said to have once lit the road and served as a landmark for travellers. Together the gate and the lantern form the face the estate turns to the Daidō.

Visiting the Former Inoue Family Residence Front Gate

The Former Inoue Family Residence, including the Former Inoue Family Residence Front Gate, is not open to the public, and you cannot pass through the gate into the grounds.

Because the Former Inoue Family Residence Front Gate faces the Daidō, its hipped roof, double doors and the stone lantern in front can all be seen from the road. The gate is partway up a slope, so watch for traffic while you look. Directions are on the Former Inoue Family Residence page.