Tanaka Family Residence Nagayamon Gate

The Tanaka Family Residence Nagayamon Gate

The Tanaka Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (田中家住宅長屋門, Tanaka-ke Jūtaku Nagayamon) is a gatehouse built in early Meiji (1868 to 1882) on the south side of 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 1989.

It stands toward the west end of the southern frontage: a single-storey timber building of 35 square metres under a pantiled roof that is gabled at the east end and hip-and-gable at the west.

The Front of the House

The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the Tanaka Family Residence Nagayamon Gate the core of the old family's formal frontage. It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape and, with the rice storehouse and annex beside it, forms the face the compound shows to the street.

The passage opens toward the east end beneath a deep crossbeam, with double plank doors and a small wicket door set into one leaf. East of the passage is a storeroom and to the west a shed for brushwood and similar stores, so fuel for the household was kept right inside the gate, a practical touch typical of a rural landowner's house.

Mushiko Windows and a Lopsided Roof

The front of the Tanaka gate is plastered up to the eaves and pierced with slatted mushiko windows, the same finish as the main house behind it, so the family's style is announced before you reach the door.

Look at the two ends of the roof as well: plain gable to the east, hip-and-gable to the west. The crossbeam over the passage is unusually deep and reads clearly from outside as the member carrying those heavy doors.

Seeing the Gate

Because the Nagayamon Gate of the Tanaka Family Residence sits on the southern edge of the grounds, its exterior should 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. Please do not block the gateway or the road.