Former Maeda Family Residence（Komaba Park） Wakan Gate and Wall | Meguro-ku Sightseeing and Disaster Prevention Portal

Important Cultural Property (Structure) Date of designation: August 7, 2013

The Wakan, a Japanese-style building located to the east of the Yokan, is surrounded by a traditional gate and walls. Together with the Japanese-style garden located to the south, this creates a space that contrasts with the Western style of the Yokan. The gate features a hirakaramon gate structure with bargeboards (karahafu) that serve as gables on both sides. Each roof tile (onigawara) on the top of the bargeboards bears the Yoken Umebachi-mon, the Maeda family crest that features plum blossoms and short daggers. The wall is composed of lattice at the top and split bamboo at the bottom, allowing visitors to catch glimpses of the Wakan through the upper part as they arrive or leave. A cobblestone path leads diagonally from the gate to the entrance of the Wakan, creating a delightfully modest atmosphere. An X-ray survey conducted in 2012 discovered anchor bolts embedded in the porticos of the gate. This shows that the gate made use of the latest earthquake-resistant countermeasures at the time, developed in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923).