Former Maeda Family Residence(Komaba Park) Wakan Gate and Wall
Address | 4-3-55 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo |
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Store hours | 9 am-4:30pm (Japanese-style building until 4pm) [Closed days / closed days] Every Monday, but if Monday is a holiday, the next day. (Western-style building is closed on Tuesdays) December 29th to January 3rd for the year-end and New Year holidays (December 28th to January 4th for the Japanese-style building) |
Wakan Gate and Wall
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).
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Former Marquis Maeda Main Residence (Komaba Park) Audio Guide
Mar 24, 2021 1:22:10 PM