Former Fukumoto Family Residence Stone and Brick Walls

What Are the Former Fukumoto Family Residence Stone and Brick Walls?

The Former Fukumoto Family Residence Stone and Brick Walls (旧福元家住宅石塀及び煉瓦塀, Kyū Fukumoto-ke Jūtaku Ishibei oyobi Renga-bei) are the stone and brick boundary walls built around 1926 along the outer edge of an estate in Nishiyashiro, Suo-Oshima Town, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and they were registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 17, 2022.

Together they run for 45 meters and include a pair of gateposts. Stone faces the side where the old approach road once ran; brick takes over at the back. The two materials form one continuous enclosure, and they are registered as a single property.

Dressed Stone in Front, Slag Brick Behind

The stone section is made of blocks finished in the edokiri manner, with a narrow flat margin chiseled around the face of each stone so that its outline stands out crisply, and it is capped with Coping stone coping stones. Yamaguchi Prefecture identifies the stone as cut granite.

The rear section uses slag bricks: bricks molded from the slag left over from iron making. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the wall itself is laid in Stretcher bond stretcher bond, while the coping is laid with the bricks' short ends outward and finished with a mound of mortar.

The sources do not describe the walls in quite the same way. The national record places them along the northern perimeter of the estate, with stone on the old road side and brick at the northwest rear. The prefecture says the walls run from the east side round the north to the west, with stone on the north and east and brick on the west, and it describes the brickwork as laid headers outward, which does not match the national record's stretcher bond. This article follows the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

The Gateposts and Why the Walls Were Registered

The gateposts of the Former Fukumoto Family Residence Stone and Brick Walls are square pillars, necked just below the cap and carved on their faces with a mokkō motif, the four-lobed quince shape familiar from Japanese family crests. They are where the builders spent their decorative effort, marking the way into the estate.

The walls were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape. You do not need to step inside to see them; they are part of what anyone walking the lane takes in. Stone for the front, brick for the back, they draw the outline of a returned trader's estate within the village.

Visiting the Walls

Because the Former Fukumoto Family Residence Stone and Brick Walls sit on the perimeter of the lot, you will mostly see them from outside. The stone wall and gateposts are on the front, and stone steps run up the north edge of the lot. To see the brick wall you need to walk round to the back; the national database includes a photograph of the slag-brick section taken from the west.

Compare the crisp joints of the edokiri stonework with the bonding of the bricks, and the different ways each section is capped. When viewing from outside, keep to the road and stay clear of passing traffic. Photography is not allowed inside the museum building.