Tanaka Family Residence Middle Gate

The Tanaka Family Residence Middle Gate

The Tanaka Family Residence Middle Gate (田中家住宅中門, Tanaka-ke Jūtaku Chūmon) is a small garden gate built in mid Meiji (1883 to 1897) in the Tanaka compound in Yamanoue, Hirakata City, Osaka Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 2, 2018. It was repaired in 1998.

It opens in a wall that runs south from the accounting room projecting off the main house. The gate is a one-bay udegimon, its roof carried on bracket arms, just 1.4 metres wide, with a gabled roof of hongawara tiles and a pair of plank doors.

Dividing Two Gardens

The Tanaka Family Residence Middle Gate separates the front yard inside the nagaya gate from the main garden that the formal rooms look onto. The Agency for Cultural Affairs praises it as a carefully made garden gate that orders the old family's outdoor spaces, and it was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

It probably split the route guests took from the front gate to the house from the way into the inner garden. At 1.4 metres, it is a gate for one person at a time.

Curved Rafters and Red Posts

The eaves are the thing to see. The rafters are set widely apart and each is given a strong upward curve, so this small gate's roof seems to lift at the edges.

The posts and beams are painted red, a bright frame between the white wall and the dark tiles.

Access

The Middle Gate stands inside the grounds in front of the main house and is unlikely to be visible from the street. No official information on public opening could be found; the compound appears to be a private home, and the grounds cannot be entered.