Kawaguchi Family Residence Earthen Wall

About the Kawaguchi Family Residence Earthen Wall

The Kawaguchi Family Residence Earthen Wall (川口家住宅土塀, Kawaguchi-ke Jūtaku Dobei) is a short tile-capped Dobei earthen wall linking the annex and the barn on the east side of the Kawaguchi estate in Nishiniunozu, Aridagawa Town, Wakayama Prefecture, built in the early Taisho era (1912 to 1918) and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2018.

The Kawaguchi Family Residence Earthen Wall stands toward the north end of the east boundary and is 6.1 m long. It closes the gap between the annex to the north and the barn to the south, and marks the line between the estate and the street.

Small, but Carefully Made

At just over six metres the Kawaguchi Family Residence Earthen Wall is easy to overlook, yet Wakayama Prefecture describes it as a short wall of high quality and careful finish. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property for its contribution to the historic landscape.

What the national database highlights is the way the wall changes finish from one face to the other: one treatment for the inside of the estate, another for the street. Tying two outbuildings together with a single run of wall, it completes the face the estate presents to the road.

Angled Stone Below, Washed Aggregate Above

The base of the Kawaguchi Family Residence Earthen Wall is about 1 m of dressed stone laid in Tanizumi, with each stone set on the diagonal so the joints form a running zigzag.

The earthen wall rises from that base. The face toward the house is plastered in white Shikkui. The face toward the street is mortar finished in Araidashi: the surface is washed before it fully sets, so the small stones in the mix show through. According to the prefecture, this washed finish continues on the outer face right up to the band below the coping.

The roof is laid with round-edged pantiles, and the eaves use ichimonji tiles, whose straight lower edges line up into a single crisp line along the top of the wall.

Seeing the Kawaguchi Family Residence Earthen Wall

The Kawaguchi Family Residence Earthen Wall is privately owned, and the estate is leased to a social welfare corporation for employment support. There are no public opening days.

Unusually, the best side of the Kawaguchi Family Residence Earthen Wall is the one facing out: the washed-aggregate face is on the street side. Standing on the road to the east, you can see the annex to the north, the barn to the south and the wall joining them. Look for the zigzag joints of the stone base and the straight line of the eaves tiles. The plastered inner face cannot be seen from outside. Please stay on the road and photograph from there. Directions are on the Kawaguchi Family Residence page.