Mukai Family Residence Front Gate and Flanking Walls

What Is the Mukai Family Residence Front Gate and Flanking Walls?

The Mukai Family Residence Front Gate and Flanking Walls (向井家住宅表門及び袖塀, Mukai-ke Jūtaku Omotemon oyobi Sodebei) is the entrance gate and the short walls on either side of it at the Mukai estate in Kada, Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture; thought to date from the early Showa period, between 1926 and 1945, it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 4 February 2021. The gate is 1.9 meters wide and the flanking walls run 4.6 meters in total, all of timber under tiled roofs.

The Mukai Family Residence Front Gate and Flanking Walls sit at the center of the south side of the lot, facing the old Awashima Kaidō road, and are the face the estate turns to the street. The year of construction is unknown, but Wakayama Prefecture assigns it to the early Showa period. That puts a gate some seventy years younger in front of a house raised in 1860.

A One-Bay Bracket-Arm Gate

The Mukai Family Residence Front Gate is an Udekimon, a bracket-arm gate one bay wide. Its roof is gabled, Kirizuma-zukuri, and laid with Sangawara-buki pan tiles; the gateposts are square in section.

The Udeki arms that project fore and aft from the posts are carved with scroll patterns and moulded profiles. On top of them rests a flattened Kabuki lintel that carries the roof, and on the inner side the arms are propped by rear posts, Hikaebashira. The eaves use a single layer of widely spaced Taruki rafters, the arrangement known as hitonoki mabara-daruki.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs database includes a photograph taken looking straight up into the eaves. Stand directly under the gate and the carving at the ends of the arms and the open rhythm of the rafters are easy to read.

Deep Eaves and Short Walls

What sets the Mukai Family Residence Front Gate apart is the depth of its overhang. The Agency describes it as a plain, sober gate with generously projecting eaves. The carving on the arms is fine, but the overall effect is restrained, a quiet front toward the road.

Pan-tiled flanking walls extend to the east and west. Beyond the western one, a concrete wall finished to the same design carries the line on, so that gate and walls together make up the south front of the lot. The gate was registered under number 30-0293 for its contribution to the historic landscape; the database gives its address as 1394-1 Kitanakacho, Kada.

Visiting

Because the Mukai Family Residence Front Gate and Flanking Walls face the old Awashima Kaidō, the exterior can be seen from the street. The ground behind the gate is private and cannot be entered.

For the deep eaves and the carved arms, stand in front of the gate and look up at the underside of the roof. The road is an everyday lane for residents, so choose a spot where you are not in anyone's way.