Okuno Family Residence Nagayamon Gate

A ten-bay gatehouse on the street

Okuno Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (奥野家住宅長屋門, Okuno-ke Jūtaku Nagayamon) is an early-Meiji Nagayamon, a gate built into a long row building, dating to between 1868 and 1882 in Kasugamotomachi, Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on May 2, 2017, under number 27-0672.

It forms the west side of the homestead and faces the street: a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 74 square meters. It runs 10 bays long; at roughly 1.8 meters to the bay, that is about 18 meters. Of the five registered buildings, this is the one you see best from outside.

A stable and an attendants' room

The Okuno Family Residence Nagayamon Gate carries a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof, but the last bay at the southern end drops a step lower. That break keeps a long gatehouse roof from reading as one flat line.

Inside, the northern part is an earth-floored Doma; its far northern end was once a stable. The southern part holds two rooms that still keep the batten-and-board ceilings from their days as tomobeya, rooms where attendants waited while their master or a visiting guest was occupied.

The walls are finished differently on each side. Facing the yard they are Shinkabe, with posts exposed; facing the street they are plastered right over the posts. Deep eaves carried on projecting joists in the segai-zukuri manner give the street front its weighty look.

Why it was registered

The Okuno Family Residence Nagayamon Gate was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country. A gatehouse of this length, running along the street, gives the whole neighbourhood a backbone.

The split finish tells you what a nagayamon is for. To the outside world it shows fire-resistant, solid-looking plaster and announces the family's standing; to the yard it shows lighter exposed timber and meets the everyday work of the farm. One building, two faces.

What to look for

Start by stepping back along the road and taking in the full length of the Okuno Family Residence Nagayamon Gate: the ten bays, and the stepped roof at the southern end.

Then look up at the eaves. Segai-zukuri pushes the eaves out on joists extended beyond the posts, and the deeper the overhang, the darker the shadow on the wall. Around midday, with the sun high, a band of shade sits across the top of the white street wall.

Visiting

The Okuno Family Residence Nagayamon Gate is the gate of a private home; its interior and the grounds behind it are closed. The exterior can be seen from the public road on the west side. The lane in front is used by residents, so keep clear of traffic and avoid pointing a camera through the gate into the yard. Directions are on the Okuno Family Residence (Hirakata) page.