Fujino Family Residence Wall

About the Fujino Family Residence Wall

The Fujino Family Residence Wall (藤野家住宅塀, Fujino-ke Jūtaku Hei) is a tile-capped earthen wall built in the mid-Meiji period (1883 to 1897) in Fujiidera 2-chome, Fujiidera City, Osaka Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2012.

The Fujino Family Residence Wall runs north to south along the west side of the main house. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives it a length of 19.2 m and a height of 2.3 m, topped by a small Kirizuma-zukuri gable roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles. The data field of the database rounds the length to 19 m.

At 2.3 m it stands well above head height. Seen from outside the estate, it would read as a solid run of earth wall under a tiled coping, nearly 20 m long.

The Fujino Family Residence Wall and the west side of the estate

The Fujino Family Residence Wall was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country. The agency values it as the wall that marks the outer edge of the estate, and for its calm, settled presence.

Set the nine registered structures of the Fujino Family Residence against the four sides of the plot and a pattern appears. The main gate and its wing walls hold the north side, the outbuildings from the east gate and row house down to the rice and tool storehouse hold the east, and the storage shed and birdhouse hold the south. The only registered structure on the west is this wall. It is what closes the fourth side of the enclosure around the main house.

The east and south are lined by the walls of buildings, while the west is closed by earth alone. It looks like the side where no working buildings were needed was simply finished with a quiet wall.

How the Fujino Family Residence Wall is built

According to the agency, the Fujino Family Residence Wall was made by building up earth to a thickness of about 0.4 m on a base of laid stone. At the top a horizontal ledge projects outward to form eaves, and the roof sits on that.

Earth walls do not like rain. The usual remedy is to lift the foot of the wall on stone, away from ground damp and splashback, and to put a roof on top to shed water from above. The stone base and the projecting eaves of this wall are exactly those two defenses.

A wall of earth 0.4 m thick has a weight and presence no board fence or hedge can match. If you get the chance to see it, look at how the base stones are laid and at the straight line drawn by the overhang of the eaves.

Visiting the Fujino Family Residence Wall

The Fujino Family Residence is a private home and the grounds are not open. The Fujino Family Residence Wall stands on the western edge of the estate, but we have not confirmed where it can be seen from or how much of it is visible.

If you can see it, please do not touch the wall or step onto neighboring property. Directions to the estate are on the Fujino Family Residence (Fujiidera) page.