The Guardhouse of the Former Uesugi Count's Residence
Most visitors walk straight past it on their way to the grand hall, but the small building beside the main gate is where a visit to the Uesugi residence once began. This is the guardhouse, the post from which the household watched over the entrance and controlled who passed through the gate of a count's estate.
The building belongs to the residence rebuilt for the Uesugi family after fire destroyed the original mansion in 1919. Like the rest of the complex, it was raised in the early 1920s to designs by the Yonezawa-born architect Nakajō Seiichirō, with the carpenter Ebe Eizō leading the work. The main house and garden were completed in 1925.
Its job was a practical one. Set at the threshold, the guardhouse marked the point where the public street gave way to the private grounds, and it gave the people who ran the estate a place to receive callers and keep watch over the gate.
Why It Is Recognised
The guardhouse was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 12 December 1997, registration number 06-0021, in the same group as the children's rooms, the servants' quarters, and the north storehouse.
Its value comes from the way it completes the estate. A great residence is a sequence of spaces, from the public gate to the private rooms deep inside, and the guardhouse is the first link in that chain. Because it survives with the halls it once screened, the property preserves the full approach to an aristocratic house rather than only its interior.
The building is small and unshowy, and that is the point. It was built to do a job at the edge of the grounds, and it did that job with the same care given to the rest of the estate, which is why it was registered alongside the grander buildings.
A Second Life by the Gate
The guardhouse is no longer standing idle. In 2019 it was renovated into a small café and workshop called Nagomitei, set right where the guard once kept watch beside the main gate. The building that used to screen visitors now welcomes them in.
Inside you can order matcha, coffee, and gelato and sweets made with local ingredients, much of it available to take away so you can carry a drink out into the garden or on toward Uesugi Shrine. The café also offers a chance to be dressed in Yonezawa-ori, the silk textile that the reforming lord Uesugi Yōzan encouraged as a local industry, and to walk the shrine grounds in it.
A note on timing: the café keeps its own seasonal hours, open from around April to November and closed through the winter, with a weekly closing day. The garden of the memorial hall, modelled on Tokyo's Hama-rikyū, is open freely, and the grand hall can be seen during opening hours. Reaching the guardhouse is easy, since it sits in plain view beside the gate on the walk over from the shrine.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Yamagata
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Yonezawa City Uesugi Memorial Hall Security Building
- [ Yamadera Temple & Zao Onsen Hot Springs ]
Questions and Answers
- What was the guardhouse for?
- It stood beside the main gate as the post from which the household watched the entrance and controlled who came and went. It marked the point where the public street gave way to the private grounds.
- When was it built?
- It went up in the early 1920s as part of the residence rebuilt after the 1919 fire, to designs by Nakajō Seiichirō with the carpenter Ebe Eizō. The main house and garden were completed in 1925.
- Is it true you can get a coffee there now?
- Yes. In 2019 the guardhouse was renovated into a café and workshop called Nagomitei, serving matcha, coffee, gelato, and sweets, and offering a Yonezawa-ori kimono dressing experience beside the main gate.
- Is the café open all year?
- No. It keeps seasonal hours, open roughly from April to November and closed over the winter, with a weekly closing day. The memorial hall's garden is open freely year round.
Basic Information
| Name | Yonezawa City Uesugi Memorial Hall, Guardhouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-3-60 Marunouchi, Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Registered | 12 December 1997 (registration no. 06-0021) |
| Built | Early 1920s (residence completed 1925, Taishō 14) |
| Structure | Located beside the main gate; one structure. Detailed dimensions are recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database. |
| Present use | Renovated in 2019 into the café and kimono-experience workshop Nagomitei |
| Part of | The former Uesugi count's residence, rebuilt after the 1919 fire (design by Nakajō Seiichirō, construction by the carpenter Ebe Eizō) |
| Owner | Yonezawa City |
| Access | Beside the main gate; garden open freely; café keeps seasonal hours |
References
- Uesugi Hakushaku-tei — About the residence
- https://hakusyakutei.jp/about/
- Uesugi Hakushaku-tei — Nagomitei café and kimono experience
- https://hakusyakutei.jp/cafe/
- Yonezawa Kanko Navi — Uesugi Memorial Hall (former Uesugi count's residence)
- https://travelyonezawa.com/spot/hakusyakutei/
Last verified: 2026.07.04