Hagi Castle - Bukeyashiki Buildings

This collection showcases the remaining gates from samurai residences that survived where the associated houses have not. The most common structure is the nagayamon (long house or row house gate), which served as a gate but also as living quarters for lower-ranking samurai, guards, and family

Hagi Castle - Bukeyashiki Buildings

武家屋敷の現存建築物

This collection showcases the remaining gates from samurai residences that survived where the associated houses have not. The most common structure is the nagayamon (long house or row house gate), which served as a gate but also as living quarters for lower-ranking samurai, guards, and family retainers. Similar row houses without a gate are simply called nagaya. Some sections of these nagayamon were also used for storage or as stables. Hagi is a treasure trove of these giant nagayamon from upper class samurai residences. There are a few others around the country but here we have four of the largest and you can enter and walk around in three of them!

Nagaya(mon) that are accessible to the public and allow visitors to explore the interior living quarters are listed first, followed by those without open interiors.

Asa Mōri Residence Nagaya The Asa Mōri were among the most prominent retainers of the Mōri and the largest estate near Hagi Castle in the Ninomaru (second bailey). This impressive nagaya is often mistaken for the family’s residence, but the original house of this once great estate no longer exists. The nagaya actually housed low-ranking samurai and family retainers.

Suu Residence Nagayamon The Suu were senior retainers of the Mōri. This nagayamon was built as living quarters for lower-ranking samurai and household retainers.

Kodama Residence Nagaya This well preserved nagaya belonged to the Kodama, another upper-class samurai household. While not the main gate to the Kodama compound, it was built along a side wall and showcases the traditional architecture of the period.

Masuda Residence Yagura The Masuda served as senior retainers of the Mōri. This large yagura (11m x 6m) was used to store weapons and stood guard near the Kita-no-somon (North Gate), providing both storage and a defensive function. Its proximity to the riding grounds and one of only three gates across the sotobori (outer moat) made it a strategically important structure.

Ninomiya Residence Nagayamon The Ninomiya were upper-class samurai whose ancestors participated in the original construction of Hagi Castle. This nagayamon preserves a guard’s room on one side.

Murata Seifu Residence Nagayamon Murata Seifu, a key figure in Choshu’s contributions to the Tenpō Reforms, lived at this residence for 25 years, but only this gate remains.

Kogawa Residence Nagayamon The Kogawa were lower-class samurai. After the Mōri moved their administrative center to Yamaguchi, Kogawa stayed in Hagi as a local magistrate. Today, the gate leads to the Nagayamon Coffee Cafe, where the gate itself is still used for storage.

Okudaira Residence Nagayamon The Okudaira were middle-class samurai. This gate, estimated to have been built in the early 1800s, now serves as the entrance to a private home but has been preserved in excellent condition.

Watanabe Residence Nagayamon The Watanabe Residence was built during the Meiji Period by Watanabe Kōzō, a former samurai and the only student of Yoshida Shoin to live into the Showa era. Watanabe played a key role in Japan’s modernization as an industrial pioneer and government official. The nagayamon, however, was repurposed from a nearby samurai residence. This beautiful riverside home is worth visiting for its combination of traditional and Western architecture. According to the guide, they get few international tourists!

Soshiki Residence Nagaya The Soshiki were also upper class samurai. The Nagaya looks like it was originally longer and was split at some point. You'll see that the roof on either side is different. It may have originally been part of a larger nagayamon structure.

Fukuhara Residence Gate The Fukuhara were senior retainers who controlled 200,000 koku of land in Ube. The most senior member resided at this estate in Hagi. Only this gate remains today, which is an unusual style for such a high-ranking family. You would expect a nagayamon with attached guard quarters. It’s possible that other nagaya or staff quarters existed but were lost over time.

Hanzawa Residence Nagayamon The Hanzawa family were upper-class samurai related to the Agawa branch of the Mōri. Though the interior is not open to the public, the gate’s substantial size suggests it was used as housing for lower-ranking samurai or servants, much like the nagayamon of the Asa Mōri and Suu residences above.

Maki Moku Residence Nagaya and Kabukimon Maki Moku participated in the Hagi Rebellion and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment though he was released early. The wall, gate and nagaya are original. The grounds also preserve the foundation stones of the house and the well. The land was gifted to the city in 2011. There are plans to restore the property and open it to the public. This is one of many locations that are not in guide books or maps that I just happened upon while walking around.