About the Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate
The Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (久保田家住宅長屋門, Kubota-ke Jūtaku Nagayamon) is a 1-story wooden Nagayamon gatehouse built in the late Edo period (1830 to 1868) in Komatsubara, Yukawa-chō, Gobo City, Wakayama Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 24, 2021. It faces a lane that turns off the Kumano Kaidō along the south edge of the plot and forms the formal front of the Kubota estate.
The Kubota Nagayamon Gate has a gabled roof of Hongawarabuki tiling and a building area of 30 square meters. One building serves as both gate and storehouse: the western 1.5 ken (bays) form the gateway and the eastern 2.5 ken a storehouse, so the store takes up more than half the frontage.
The Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education describes the gate as probably late Edo work. Gobo City notes how its low profile under a heavy tiled roof tightens up the front of the estate.
Why the Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate was registered
The Kubota Nagayamon Gate was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs credits it with giving this old family a dignified frontage.
A nagayamon is a gate with rooms or storage built into one or both sides. Gates of this kind were built for samurai residences and also for leading households in the countryside. At the Kubota estate, the Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate is one of the two Edo-period structures, alongside the main house of 1808, and together with the wall it closes off the outside of the plot.
What to look for in the Kubota Nagayamon Gate
The gateway is framed at the top by a Magusa lintel and closed by a single plank door that slides to one side. A lintel is the beam laid across the top of an opening, and here it sets the height of the passage. Instead of double swing doors, one sliding board opens and shuts the way in, a plain arrangement.
The back of the gate has its own interest. Its eaves are built in Degeta-zukuri fashion, carried on projecting beam ends, and this part is sealed in Shikkui lime plaster. Plastering over the timber rather than leaving it exposed also protects the back of a gate that holds a storehouse from fire.
The storehouse door, the Tomae, is set in the middle of the back wall. The store therefore opens into the estate, and only the gateway opens onto the lane. The layout shows a building that worked as a gate from outside and as a storehouse from within.
Visiting the Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate
The Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate belongs to a private home. The storehouse inside is not open, and visitors may not pass through the gate onto the property.
The gate faces the southern lane, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs photographed it from the southwest, so its front can be seen from the lane. Please do not stand in the gateway in a way that blocks the household's comings and goings. The plastered rear eaves and the storehouse door are on the inside of the plot. Directions to the estate are on the Kubota Family Residence page.
Q&A
- When was the Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate built?
- In the late Edo period, between 1830 and 1868. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 24, 2021.
- How is the Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate built?
- It is a 1-story gatehouse with a gabled hongawara-tiled roof. The western 1.5 ken form the gateway and the eastern 2.5 ken a storehouse. The gateway has a lintel and a single sliding plank door.
- Where is the storehouse door of the Kubota Nagayamon Gate?
- In the middle of the back wall, facing into the estate. The rear eaves are built on projecting beams and sealed in lime plaster.
- How large is the Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate?
- Its building area is 30 square meters, the smallest of the three registered buildings at the Kubota estate apart from the wall.
- Can I visit the Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate?
- The storehouse inside is not open and you cannot enter the property through the gate, but the front of the gate can be seen from the southern lane.
Basic Information
| Name | Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate (久保田家住宅長屋門) |
|---|---|
| Location | 165 Nakanotsubo, Komatsubara, Yukawacho, Gobo City, Wakayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2021-06-24 (Reiwa 3) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 30 square meters |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private residence; exterior visible from the lane) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Kubota Family Residence Nagayamon Gate
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013873
- Kubota Family Residence: Main House, New Reception Wing, Nagayamon Gate and Wall (Gobo City, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.gobo.lg.jp/sosiki/kyoikuiin/kyoiku/tanto/bunnkazai/shinobunkazai/kenzoubutu/1627607750985.html
- Kubota Family Residence (Wakayama no Bunkazai, Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education, in Japanese)
- https://wakayama-bunkazai.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-spot-998/
Last verified: 2026.10.10
