Yamada Family Residence Front Gate

What the Front Gate Is

The Yamada Family Residence Front Gate (山田家住宅表門, Yamada-ke Jūtaku Omotemon) is the late Edo-period outer gate facing the road on the south side of the Yamada estate in Shinge, Sennan City, Osaka Prefecture, registered in 2002 as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property. It is the first gate you pass through on entering.

It takes the form of a Nagayamon, a gatehouse with rooms beside the passage, under a gabled roof of hongawarabuki tiles. The Agency for Cultural Affairs commentary gives its size as 10 meters by 3 meters, while the structure field of the same record gives a frontage of 5 meters. The two figures do not agree, and both are noted here.

The passage is set at the east end of the building and the rest is given over to rooms, whose outer wall has a barred window in every bay.

The Outer of Two Gates

The Yamada Family Residence Front Gate was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The estate is laid out so that anyone coming from the road passes through two gates before reaching the forecourt of the main house. This is the outer one. Behind it stands a second gatehouse stretching almost the full width of the plot.

Two gatehouses in a row made a strong statement. The front gate faced the lane and the long gatehouse behind it filled the view beyond, announcing the headman's standing to anyone walking past. Both openings sit toward the east, so the path runs straight through.

What to Look For

From the lane, the barred windows run bay by bay along the outer wall of the rooms, setting a steady rhythm under the weight of the tiled gable roof.

Notice that the opening is not in the middle but at the east end. It lines up with the opening of the inner gate, so the moment you step through the Yamada Family Residence Front Gate, the passage of the second gate appears straight ahead. The two gates share a single axis, and this is where you feel it.

Visiting the Front Gate

The exterior of the Yamada Family Residence Front Gate can be seen from the lane on the south side. The estate is a private home and the lane is a residential street, so be mindful of passing traffic and the residents if you stop. Entry through the gate is possible only on public open days.

On an open day, turn round just inside the gate to see its inner face, then look ahead to the opening of the second gate. Directions and opening days are covered on the Yamada Family Residence page.