Yurinso Partition Gate and Wall

What Is the Yurinso Partition Gate and Wall?

The Yurinso Partition Gate and Wall (有隣荘仕切門及び塀, Yūrinsō Shikirimon oyobi Hei) is a wooden garden gate and wall built around 1923 to divide the forecourt from the main garden of the Yurinso estate in Kuniyasu, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2013.

The wall runs out from the south side of the annex, which projects in front of the main house, turns a right angle, and is pierced by a gate 1.7 m wide. The wall's total length is 8.1 m. Gate and wall are registered together as a single entry.

Why the Yurinso Partition Gate and Wall Was Registered

The Yurinso Partition Gate and Wall was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, number 31-0180, with the main house and seven other structures, for contributing to the historic landscape of the country.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs treats it as a boundary device that separates forecourt and main garden and, in doing so, makes the garden feel richer. Tottori Prefecture says much the same: by closing off the garden, the gate and wall draw out the sense of space toward the borrowed view of Mount Hassaka. Its job is to stop the eye just inside the main gate, so the garden is not given away all at once.

What to Look for at the Yurinso Partition Gate and Wall

A yakuimon in miniature

The gate is a Yakuimon, its ridge running north to south under a Kirizuma-zukuri gable roof of Sangawara-buki tiles. In this type, a pair of rear posts stands behind the main posts and the ridge is set back from them, so seen from the front the roof seems to lean well forward. Here it is only 1.7 m wide: a gate inside the garden rather than a main entrance, keeping the dignity of the form at a modest size.

The angled wall

The wall has a gabled tiled coping too, with white Shikkui plaster above and sasarako shitamiita, battened weatherboarding, along its base. That is the same finish as the gatehouse and the earthen walls at the front, so the formal entrance and this inner partition share one design. The wall turns at a right angle, a Kaneore bend, to form the boundary between forecourt and main garden on the south side of the annex.

Before and after the gate

The value of the Yurinso Partition Gate and Wall lies in the change of view as you pass through. On the forecourt side the white wall closes things in. Step through and the main garden in front of the reception rooms opens up at once, with Mount Hassaka beyond. From the veranda of the main house, the pale wall gives the garden a firm edge.

Visiting the Yurinso Partition Gate and Wall

The Yurinso Partition Gate and Wall lies inside the estate, south of the annex, and is hard to see from outside the main gate. Guests with a restaurant or Tea Time Plan booking can view it from the veranda and the garden. It may also be visible on the occasional free garden open days; in 2026 one was held on May 9 (checked October 2, 2026).

Whether you can actually walk through the gate depends on how the garden is being used that day. No photography rule is published, so ask on arrival. Directions are on the Yurinso page.