Wada Family Residence Outer Wall

A Brick Wall on an Old Riverbank

The Wada Family Residence Outer Wall (和田家住宅外塀, Wada-ke Jūtaku Sotobei) is a brick wall built in 1930 along the south edge of the Wada family estate in Miyamotocho, Kishiwada City, Osaka Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 21 August 2002. It runs across the front of the main house and forms the backbone of the estate's perimeter.

The wall stands on a tall stone base laid in the Tanizumi pattern. Above it the brickwork is rendered in mortar and capped with a roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives its length as 45 metres in the structure field and about 46 metres in the descriptive text.

Why It Was Registered

The Wada Family Residence Outer Wall was registered for its contribution to the historic townscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs credits it with shaping the outer edge of the estate and with preserving the look of the property from the days when it stood beside a river.

That river ran along the south side of the lot and has since been buried in a culvert. The height of the stone base is the clue: the land had to be raised well above the water, and the wall's foundations still record that edge.

What to Look For

Read the wall in three layers. At the bottom, stones set on the diagonal; in the middle, brick hidden under a smooth coat of mortar; on top, a small roof of pantiles. Western brick finished off with a Japanese tiled cap is a typical early Showa compromise.

In tanizumi masonry each stone is turned so that its diagonal runs vertically, which fills the face with slanting joints. The east wall of the same estate uses Nunozumi coursing instead, with stones laid in level rows, and comparing the two shows the difference at a glance.

The nagayamon gate stands at the south corner of the lot, and together the wall and the gate present the south side of the estate as a single frontage.

Visiting the Outer Wall

The Wada Family Residence Outer Wall forms the estate's perimeter and can be seen from outside. Everything behind it is a private home and closed to visitors.

To see the masonry pattern, look closely at the joints near the base of the wall. Directions and visiting etiquette for the estate are on the Wada Family Residence page.