Takahashi Family Residence Neribei Wall

What Is the Takahashi Family Residence Neribei Wall?

The Takahashi Family Residence Neribei Wall (高橋家住宅練塀, Takahashi-ke Jūtaku Neribei) in Minamiyamicho, Tokushima City, is a tile-capped Neribei wall 39.1 meters long, built between 1887 and 1896 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 23, 1999. It runs out from both sides of the front gate and closes off the street front of the Takahashi property.

Both ends of the wall meet buildings. On the west it turns a corner and joins the south face of the west barn; on the east it meets the west face of the indigo fermenting house, also called the east barn. The Takahashi Family Residence Neribei Wall is what ties the two work buildings and the gate into a single line.

Why the Neribei Wall Was Registered

The wall was registered as something that would not be easy to reproduce, the only one of the six Takahashi structures to qualify on that ground. The reason lies in how it was built.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Takahashi Family Residence Neribei Wall is made of a great many small stones, chiefly locally quarried green schist, stacked up and finished with lime plaster on the upper part. The Agency calls the technique distinctive and credits it with the wall's attractive appearance.

What to Notice Along the Takahashi Wall

Up close, the lower courses should show as a mass of small stones. Green schist has a greenish cast, so the stacked stone and the white plaster above it form two bands of quite different texture, with roof tiles along the top.

The corner at the west end is worth a look as well. Where the wall bends to meet the west barn, it becomes clear that this is not a free-standing fence but part of an outer shell made together with the buildings.

Published sources do not give the size of the stones, the coursing pattern or the thickness of the plaster, and these details could not be checked for this article.

Visiting the Takahashi Family Residence Neribei Wall

The Takahashi Family Residence Neribei Wall encloses a private home, and as of October 2026 no open days had been announced. Running along the front of the plot, it is probably, with the gate, the part of the property most easily seen from outside.

However tempting the stonework, do not touch or climb the wall. Keep your stop short and do not block residents or passers-by.