Former Matsuno Family Residence (Noguchi Family Residence) Gateposts and Stone Walls

What Are the Former Matsuno Family Residence (Noguchi Family Residence) Gateposts and Stone Walls?

The Former Matsuno Family Residence (Noguchi Family Residence) Gateposts and Stone Walls (旧松野家住宅(野口家住宅)門柱及び石垣, Kyū Matsuno-ke Jūtaku, Noguchi-ke Jūtaku Monchū oyobi Ishigaki) are the granite gateposts and walls enclosing an old family estate in Umeno, Yamato-cho, Saga City, Saga Prefecture; built in the early Taishō period, they became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 6 March 2024.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates early Taishō to 1912 to 1918. The stone gateposts stand 2.8 meters apart and the stone walls run 55 meters in total, counted together as a single structure.

Why They Were Registered

The Gateposts and Stone Walls were registered as number 41-0133 for their contribution to the historic landscape. Where the main house and outbuilding were recognized for their design, here the point is the face the estate presents to its surroundings.

The pair of gateposts stands at the southeast corner of the plot, and the walls run off to either side, enclosing its southern half. In a mountain hamlet, they draw the outline of the property in stone. The Agency closes its description by noting the high level of skill throughout.

Edokiri Posts and Curving Walls

The Former Matsuno Family Residence Gateposts and Stone Walls are built entirely of the same granite.

The posts have their corners dressed in Edokiri, a finish that chamfers each edge to leave a narrow band running along it, which makes the corners look crisp. The tops are shaped as four-sided pyramids. Standing in front of the gate, look at whether that thin band runs unbroken from top to bottom.

The walls are laid with a curve, rising as they go. At the outside corners, the stones are set in shinogi-zumi, a coursing that turns the corner along a ridge, like the ridge line of a sword blade. The coping line along the top is levelled to follow the shape of the plot, so it keeps a tidy line even where the edge of the land changes height and direction.

Saga Prefecture captions its photographs of the same structure in two ways, once as gateposts and stone fence and once as gateposts and stone wall, and the Agency's description of the intake pond also calls the east wall a stone fence.

Visiting

The Former Matsuno Family Residence (Noguchi Family Residence) Gateposts and Stone Walls form the outer edge of a private estate. Unlike the buildings they face outward, but the ground inside the gate is private, so please do not enter. We found no announcement of public openings.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs database has a front view of the gateposts and a photograph along the east face of the wall from the southeast corner. The curve and the ridged corner are easiest to see in the second image. Directions are on the Former Matsuno Family Residence (Noguchi Family Residence) page.