Yamada Family Residence Entrance Wing

What the Entrance Wing Is

The Yamada Family Residence Entrance Wing (山田家住宅玄関棟, Yamada-ke Jūtaku Genkantō) is the formal entrance attached to the west side of the main house on the Yamada estate in Shinge, Sennan City, Osaka Prefecture, built around 1863 and registered in 2002 as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property.

It is a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 45 square meters. Everyday comings and goings used the earthen hall of the main house. This wing existed to bring guests to the corner reception room at the inner, western end of the house.

The Yamada Family Residence Entrance Wing has two doorways: a main entrance with a Shikidai, a low boarded step for receiving guests, and a smaller entrance where the wing meets the main house. Tucked behind the main entrance is a 4.5-mat tea room.

A Doorway Built for Rank

The wing was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Seen from the forecourt, its signature is the irimoya gable that projects from the south front.

A formal step of this kind was a privilege of samurai houses and village officials. The headman needed one because official visitors came to his door, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs reads the projecting gable as a sign of the family's standing. Next to the tall gable of the main house, the smaller gable of the Yamada Family Residence Entrance Wing sits one level lower and adds a second face to the front.

What to Look For

The shikidai is a boarded platform set one step below the raised floor. Guests left their palanquins and sandals here before being shown in. Compare it with the plainer side entrance and you can see how a single wing sorted visitors by rank.

The tea room behind the entrance has a shitaji-mado, a window where the plaster is left off to expose the bamboo lath, and a chinkuguri, a small low opening near the base of the wall that lets air and glimpses pass between the tea room and the neighboring room. A small garden lies in front, and on open days the room is dressed for the season or the event.

Visiting the Entrance Wing

The interior of the Yamada Family Residence Entrance Wing can be seen on public open days. Because the tea room is arranged differently for each season and event, repeat visits are rewarded.

For the exterior, stand toward the west side of the forecourt and take in the wing alongside the front of the main house. The way the gable juts forward is clearest from there. Directions and opening days are covered on the Yamada Family Residence page.