Hamagurimon 蛤門

Lit. clam gate. One of the four gates on the westside of the outer enclosure of Kyoto Gosho 京都御所. Altogether there were nine gates with four on the west side. The hamaguri gate has thick plank doors with metal pieces nailed closely together resembling a castle gate. It is always left open and is built high enough for someone mounted on a horse to pass through it easily. For this same reason, it has no ground sill. It has the same style and construction as *kōraimon 高麗門, the first gate in a castle wall. The Hamagurimon is historically significant because it was the site of a clash between the Satsuma 薩摩 and Chōshū 長州 clans in 1864. The arrow marks remain.