What demitsudo means
A demitsudo is a variant of the three-bearing-block bracket set. On the large bearing block at the top of a post, a bracket arm running along the wall is crossed by one projecting forward at right angles, and each carries bearing blocks. It shares the row of three blocks along the wall with the flat three-block type, but because blocks also project forward, the bracket stands out in depth when seen from the front.
For carrying the eaves forward, the one-step projecting bracket, which pushes arm and blocks one step out to support the eave beam, is the more developed form. The demitsudo sits between the flat three-block type and the one-step bracket and is often used on small halls, shrine buildings and the upper storeys of gates. Some buildings use it only at corner posts or the posts of the entrance canopy and flat three-block sets elsewhere, grading the brackets by position.
Reading the records and the building
Records describe demitsudo brackets. The two-storey gate of Otori Shrine in Koka, Shiga, has three-step brackets under its balcony and demitsudo in its upper storey, with frog-leg struts and short posts between. The sanctuary of Kogarasu Shrine in Fukuoka uses demitsudo at the four corners of its core and at the entrance canopy, and is described as restrained and refined. The founder's hall of Kawaraya-ji in Higashiomi, Shiga, has tapered round posts with a daiwa beam carrying demitsudo, in the Zen style. The Mieidō of Tairyuji in Anan, Tokushima, has round posts with demitsudo and double fan rafters.
On site, look at the bracket from an angle to see whether, besides the row of blocks along the wall, an arm with blocks projects forward. If the projecting arm carries the eave beam at its tip, the bracket is a degumi; if it only carries blocks, it is a demitsudo.
References
- 大鳥神社楼門｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002780
- 小烏神社本殿｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013199
- 瓦屋寺開山堂｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00012174
- 太龍寺御影堂｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009668
Last verified: 2026.09.27