The Gatehouse of 1855
The Tokorozawa Local Art Museum Nagayamon Gate (所沢郷土美術館長屋門) is the gatehouse of a family of doctors of 1855 in Kume, Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on February 9, 2005 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 60 square metres; registration number 11-0087.
A Gate Flanked by Rooms
The Tokorozawa Local Art Museum Nagayamon Gate stands on the east edge of the plot, set back a little from the road and running north to south (Agency for Cultural Affairs). A Nagayamon is a gate built into a long range of rooms; here the passage opens in the middle with rooms of equal size on either side, and a single room projects at the south end under its own kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof.
The main roof is a hip-and-gable of sangawara pantiles, and the walls are Shikkui plaster above a skirt of shitami-itabari clapboard (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Tokorozawa City notes that the roof was originally thatched. The master carpenter was the same as for the main house, Shinzaemon of Uchikoshi village, and the gate went up the year after the house.
Why It Was Registered
The Agency describes the Tokorozawa Local Art Museum Nagayamon Gate as an indispensable part of the estate and registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape. It is the face the house shows to the road, and with the storehouse to its north it forms the estate's front.
What to Look For
From the front, compare the hip-and-gable main roof with the small gabled room that juts out at the south end. The contrast between white plaster and the darker clapboard skirt is easy to pick out.
Note too that the rooms on either side of the passage are of equal size (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Picture the roof in its original thatch and the gate of a rural doctor's house comes into focus.
Visiting
On museum days you can see the Tokorozawa Local Art Museum Nagayamon Gate up close from inside the grounds. No official information on access to the rooms inside the gate was found.
Q&A
- When was the Tokorozawa Local Art Museum Nagayamon Gate built?
- In 1855, a year after the main house (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- Was the Tokorozawa Local Art Museum gate always tiled?
- No. Tokorozawa City says it was originally thatched.
- What should I look for at the Tokorozawa Local Art Museum Nagayamon Gate?
- The matching rooms either side of the passage, the gabled room at the south end, and the plaster and clapboard walls.
- Who built the Tokorozawa Local Art Museum Nagayamon Gate?
- The same master carpenter as the main house, Shinzaemon of Uchikoshi village.
- When was the Tokorozawa Local Art Museum Nagayamon Gate registered?
- On February 9, 2005 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Tokorozawa Local Art Museum Nagayamon Gate (所沢郷土美術館長屋門) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1447-1 Kume, Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2005/02/09 (Heisei 17) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber, tiled roof, 60 m² |
| Owner | Not listed in the Agency database |
| Public Access | Outside visible from the grounds on museum days (no interior access information) |
References
- Tokorozawa Local Art Museum Nagayamon Gate (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004524
- Tokorozawa Local Art Museum Main House, Nagayamon Gate and Storehouse (Tokorozawa City, Japanese)
- https://www.city.tokorozawa.saitama.jp/iitokoro/enjoy/bunkakyoyo/bunkazai/kunitourokubunkazai/kyodobijyutukan.html
Last verified: 2026.10.28
