Morimoto Family Residence Front Gate

The Gate at the Mouth of the Valley

The Morimoto Family Residence Front Gate (森本家住宅表門, Morimoto-ke Jūtaku Omotemon) is a Yakuimon-style roofed gate in Sakamoto, Katsuura Town, Tokushima Prefecture, built in the late Meiji years (1898–1912) and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 26 March 2015.

It stands on the path running south of the guest annex. The Morimoto Family Residence Front Gate is a timber structure with a tiled roof, 2.0 metres wide and just one bay across, yet the national database describes it as the gate that dignifies the entrance to this valley estate. Katsuura Town believes it was built at about the same time as the annex.

Why It Was Registered

The Front Gate was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Its gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof is laid in round tile, and it follows the yakuimon pattern, in which the roof rests on main posts backed by a second pair of rear posts.

Its sides tie it into the estate. The northern post meets the board fence on the south side of the annex; on the southern side, clapboarding fills the space between main and rear posts and connects to a stone wall. Gate, fence and wall together mark the edge of the property.

What to Look For

Ridge and end tiles

The ridge is stacked in seigaiha, the overlapping-wave pattern, and each Onigawara end tile carries a toribusuma, a projecting cylindrical tile that gives the ridge ends a lifted look.

The gable pendant

Where the bargeboards meet, a finned Gegyo hangs in wood. The same motif appears in plaster on the New Storehouse, so the estate lets you compare a carved gegyo with a plastered one.

Double doors

Paired plank doors fill the opening, and with the boarded south side, the gate reads as a composition of timber planes.

Visiting the Front Gate

The Morimoto Family Residence Front Gate is the entrance to a private home, and no public opening has been announced. Do not pass through it. If you photograph the gate, remember that it is also the residents' way in and out, and keep clear of it. Directions are on the Morimoto Family Residence page.