What chigaidana means
A chigaidana is a display shelf beside the Tokonoma, in the area called the tokowaki, made of two boards set side by side at staggered heights. The boards are joined by a short post called the ebizuka, and the end of the upper board often has a raised lip called the fudegaeshi. It is one of the formal fixtures of the shoin style and, with the alcove and built-in desk, marks the status of a reception room.
The standard tokowaki combines the shelves with a small cupboard above, the Tenbukuro, and another below, the jibukuro. The shape of the boards and the stepping of the shelves are points of design, and modern Japanese-style houses produced many chigaidana of choice timbers and inventive form.
Reading the records and the room
Records usually mention the shelves together with the alcove. The detached wing of an old family house in Hidakagawa, Wakayama, has an alcove, staggered shelves and a refined built-in desk in its eight-mat principal room. The detached reception room of the Yamanari brewery in Ibara, Okayama, has an alcove and staggered shelves along the north of its east room. The lodging built for the Meiji Emperor at the Himeji Senba Betsuin Hontokuji of the Otani branch of Shin Buddhism has, in its throne room, a built-in desk with an upper cupboard and staggered shelves in an unusual combination. The Shazansō at Kajikaen in Ome, Tokyo, uses inventive joinery including staggered shelves with convex tops.
On site, look beside the alcove for boards set at different heights. The number and shape of the boards and their combination with cupboards vary from room to room.
References
- 寒川家住宅離れ｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009820
- 山成酒造離れ座敷｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014941
- 真宗大谷派姫路船場別院本徳寺行在所｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/379977
- 河鹿園射山荘｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013366
Last verified: 2026.09.27