Matsumiya Family Residence Front Gate

An Early Taisho Gatehouse with a Tool Shed Built In

The Matsumiya Family Residence Front Gate (松宮家住宅表門, Matsumiya-ke Jūtaku Omotemon) is a single-storey timber gatehouse of the early Taisho era in Sugi, Hirakata City, Osaka Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 5 December 2019. It is dated to between 1912 and 1918.

It stands in the south-west corner of the plot, facing south. It is a Nagayamon, a gate whose passage and adjoining rooms share one long roof. With a building area of 12 square metres it is both the smallest and the newest of the 4 registered buildings of the Matsumiya Family Residence.

A Gateway to the East, a Barn to the West

The Matsumiya Family Residence Front Gate divides its east-west length in two. The eastern part is the gateway, one bay wide with a single opening, closed by a pair of gate doors fitted with a wicket door (Kugurido). With the main doors shut, people could still come and go through the small wicket.

The western part is a barn for farm tools. Entrance and tool store are combined in one building.

The roof is laid in pan tiles (Sangawara-buki), with a hip-and-gable end (Irimoya-zukuri) on the west side.

Black Plaster and Timber Boarding

The walls of the Matsumiya Family Residence Front Gate are built in the Shinkabe manner, with the timber posts left exposed and the panels between them finished in black lime plaster. The colour sets it clearly apart from the white-walled storehouses on the north side of the compound.

The lower walls are finished differently depending on which way they face. The front, towards the road, has overlapping horizontal weatherboards (Shitami-itabari); the other sides have vertical boards.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the gate as small but carefully made, and as giving the old household its formal front. It was registered as contributing to the historic landscape of the country.

Viewing the Matsumiya Family Residence Front Gate

As the south-facing entrance of the compound, the Matsumiya Family Residence Front Gate is one of the easier buildings to see from outside. Look for the black plaster walls, the weatherboarded base, the gate doors and wicket at the east end, and the barn section to the west.

Beyond the gate is a private home. Please do not linger in front of the doors or peer through the wicket. The interior is closed and the grounds cannot be entered.

Directions and the general conditions for visiting are on the Matsumiya Family Residence page.