The Gate Beside the Shakado Entrance
The Kazama Family Former Villa Muryokoen Middle Gate (風間家旧別邸無量光苑中門, Chūmon) is a small bracket-armed gate of about 1910 inside the Muryokoen villa in Izumimachi, Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 1 July 2003. It has a sheet-metal roof, is 1.1 metres wide, and is flanked by board wing fences.
It stands beside the entrance of the Shakado, the villa's reception hall. Together with its wing fences it divides the forecourt leading to the entrance from the inner garden viewed from the rooms. Because a Chashitsu tearoom stands close by, it also serves as a Roji gate, the threshold of a tea garden.
A bracket-armed gate, udegimon in Japanese, carries its roof on short arms projecting front and back from the posts. This is the smallest of the villa's three registered gates, and the most elaborately detailed.
Why It Was Registered
The Kazama Family Former Villa Muryokoen Middle Gate was registered, as number 06-0055, for its contribution to the historic townscape.
The official description notes that although it is a modest gate, ingenuity has gone into every part, and it calls the gate essential to the scenery at the approach to the house. In the few steps between the front gate and the Shakado entrance, it is this gate that marks where one view ends and another begins.
If the front gate announces rank, the middle gate shows hospitality. Its light touch suits the sukiya-style reception rooms and the tearoom it stands beside.
Herringbone Boards and a Swelling Roof
Start with the door. It slides rather than swings, and its outer face is boarded in yahazu-bari, boards set diagonally in a herringbone like the fletching of an arrow. From a distance it looks like plain timber; up close the grain switches direction panel by panel and the pattern appears as the light changes.
Then step to one side and look at the roofline. The roof swells upward in a pronounced convex curve, mukuri, so the outline is soft rather than taut. The bargeboards at the gable ends are carved with moulded profiles, fine work for such a small gate.
With its wing fences, the gate forms a foreground set against the trees of the inner garden, which is exactly the role the official description gives it: framing the approach to the house.
Visiting the Middle Gate
The Kazama Family Former Villa Muryokoen Middle Gate stands inside the grounds beside the Shakado entrance and cannot be seen from the street. You need to enter the villa during the open season to see it.
It stands right beside the Shakado entrance, so pause before stepping up into the house to look at the herringbone door and the curve of the roof. The gate is part of the path, so please leave the door alone.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Yamagata
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Kazama Family Former Villa Muryokoen Middle Gate
- [ Yamadera Temple & Zao Onsen Hot Springs ]
Q&A
- Where is the Kazama Family Former Villa Muryokoen Middle Gate?
- Inside the Muryokoen grounds, beside the entrance of the Shakado. It separates the forecourt from the inner garden, with a tearoom close by.
- What kind of gate is the Kazama Family Former Villa Muryokoen Middle Gate?
- A small bracket-armed gate, 1.1 metres wide, with board wing fences on either side. It also works as a tea-garden gate.
- When was the Kazama Family Former Villa Muryokoen Middle Gate built and registered?
- It dates from about 1910 and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 1 July 2003, registration number 06-0055.
- What details stand out on the Kazama Family Former Villa Muryokoen Middle Gate?
- The sliding door boarded in a herringbone pattern, the strongly curved roof and the carved bargeboards.
- Can I see the Kazama Family Former Villa Muryokoen Middle Gate from the street?
- No. It stands inside the grounds, so you need to enter the villa during the open season.
Basic Information
| Name | Kazama Family Former Villa Muryokoen Middle Gate (風間家旧別邸無量光苑中門) |
|---|---|
| Location | 6-20 Izumimachi, Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2003/07/01 (Heisei 15) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, sheet-metal roof, 1.1 metres wide, with wing fences |
| Owner | Kokunensha Public Interest Foundation |
| Public Access | Inside the grounds; visible during the open season, 15 April to 30 November (admission charged) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties — 風間家旧別邸無量光苑中門
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003349
- Cultural Heritage Online — 風間家旧別邸無量光苑中門
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/194349
- Tsuruoka City Board of Education — List of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (PDF)
- https://www.city.tsuruoka.lg.jp/bunka/rekishi/shitei-bunka-ichiran.files/15_registeredtangibleculturalproperties.pdf
- Heishindo (Kokunensha) — Muryokoen Shakado
- https://heishindo.jp/shakado/
- Heishindo (Kokunensha) — Visitor Information
- https://heishindo.jp/guide/
Last verified: 2026.09.25
