What gamburi-gawara means
Gamburi-gawara are tiles of semicircular section laid face-down in a row along the very top of a roof ridge. They cap the ridge where the two roof slopes meet and keep rain out.
A tiled ridge is usually built up of several courses of flat noshi tiles, capped with gamburi-gawara and finished at each end with an ornamental end tile. The more courses of noshi tiles, the taller and heavier the ridge. On wall copings and small buildings, however, the noshi courses may be omitted and the ridge formed simply of gamburi-gawara.
Reading the records and the roof
Records describe the tiles laid over a ridge. The fence of the Kobayashi family house, formerly the Kotake weaving company, in Kiryu, Gunma, an open board fence along a stone wall on the south of the site, has posts on a sill tied with through-ties and a roof of gamburi-gawara alone, about a metre high. The inner fence of the former Kitamuro clinic in Tsurugi, Tokushima, a board fence roofed in copper, has gamburi-gawara along its ridge, an example of the tiles used on the ridge of a roof otherwise covered in another material.
On site, look up at the top of the ridge for a row of semicircular tiles laid face-down. Flat tiles stacked in courses beneath them are noshi tiles.
References
- 小林家住宅（旧小武織物有限会社）塀｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010109
- 旧北室醫院庭門及び内塀｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013455
Last verified: 2026.09.27