Yoshida Family Residence Wooden Fence

What is the Yoshida Family Residence Wooden Fence?

The Yoshida Family Residence Wooden Fence (吉田家住宅板塀, Yoshida-ke Jūtaku Itabei) is a board fence in Futakuchi, Imizu City, Toyama Prefecture, built in 1872 and repaired in the early Shōwa era; it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on August 7, 2023.

The fence is of timber with a tiled coping and runs for 40 meters. It follows the property line around the west and south sides of the main house, turning a right angle at the corner (Kaneore).

Why the Yoshida Family Residence Wooden Fence was registered

The Yoshida Family Residence Wooden Fence was registered as a structure that contributes to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as the fence that forms the dignified street front of an old family house.

A long fence along the road is the first part of the estate anyone sees. Together with the tall gable of the main house behind it, it sets the character of this stretch of the pilgrimage road in Futakuchi.

Stone footing and a gate for honored guests

The Yoshida Family Residence Wooden Fence stands on a stone base topped with nunoishi, flat dressed stones laid in a line. The boards rise from these stones.

In the middle of the west side, facing the street, is a kirinuki-mon reserved for honored guests: an opening cut into the run of the fence itself, rather than a separate gate building. The family kept a formal entrance for visitors on the street front.

Along the west side, and everywhere except the garden section, the boards are set vertically.

Old ship planks along the garden

The most interesting stretch of the Yoshida Family Residence Wooden Fence is on the south. Where it borders the garden in front of the formal rooms, the builders reused planks from boats, still pitted with wormholes, and laid them horizontally. Both the direction of the boards and the look of the wood set this section apart.

At the March 2023 meeting of the Imizu City Cultural Properties Council, a member asked why ship planks had been used. According to the minutes, the answer was twofold: timber that had soaked in seawater could be expected to resist rot naturally, and the weathered surface reflected a Japanese affection for wood that finds beauty in the texture of age.

Putting the old timber only where it would be seen across the garden from the formal rooms fits the habit of treating garden and room as one composed view. The sources do not say, however, whether the ship-plank face is turned toward the garden or toward the outside.

Visiting the Yoshida Family Residence Wooden Fence

The west side of the Yoshida Family Residence Wooden Fence runs along the street, so the stone footing, the vertical boards and the guest gate in the middle can be seen from outside. You can read how the fence frames the front of the estate without setting foot on the property.

We could not confirm whether the ship-plank section on the south side is visible from outside. A 2023 Imizu City record said the estate was to open to the public, but current opening days, fees and photography rules are unconfirmed, so ask ahead if you want to see the garden side. Directions are on the Yoshida Family Residence page.