Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) Nagayamon Gate

What Is the Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) Nagayamon Gate?

The Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) Nagayamon Gate (井上家住宅（旧岩田家住宅）長屋門, Inoue-ke Jūtaku, Kyū Iwata-ke Jūtaku Nagayamon) is a gatehouse on the south edge of a farmhouse estate in Nakamitani, Kinokawa City, Wakayama Prefecture; built in 1970, it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 7 August 2023. It is a single-storey timber Nagayamon with a tiled roof and a building area of 81 square meters.

A water channel runs along the lane in front of it. This is the first building anyone arriving at the estate faces, and it is the face the property shows to the street.

The Youngest of the Four

The Nagayamon Gate was registered as number 30-0337 for its contribution to the historic landscape. It is the newest of the four registered structures: more than 100 years younger than the late Edo storehouse and over half a century younger than the main house of around 1916. At the time of registration it was 53 years old.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs credits the gate, together with the earthen wall and the channel along the lane, with giving the estate its composed frontage. A late Shōwa building, it earns its place by working as one piece with the Taishō-era wall and the watercourse to shape the streetscape.

Gate Doors, a Wicket, and a Boat-Hull Ceiling

The roof is a hipped-and-gabled Irimoya-zukuri of Sangawara-buki pantiles. In the middle of the building is the gateway itself, closed by a pair of plank doors that swing open to either side, with a small wicket door set just to the west.

East of the gateway is an earth-floored barn. To the west are 3 rooms with an Engawa veranda along their north side, the side facing into the estate. The westernmost room has a funazoko ceiling, raised in the center and sloping down at the sides like the inside of a boat's hull.

The walls are Shinkabe construction, with the timber posts left visible in white Shikkui plaster above vertical boarding at the base. That front, with the posts showing through the plaster, is what to look at from the lane.

Visiting

The Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) Nagayamon Gate is privately owned, and the barn, the rooms and the grounds beyond are not open. The boat-hull ceiling and the veranda on the inner side cannot be seen from outside.

Because the gate faces the lane on the south, its doors, wicket and plastered front are visible from the road. The lane is a local road, so keep clear of traffic when you stop in front of the gate, and do not enter the property.