What a hafu is
A hafu is the bargeboard fixed in an inverted V along the gable end of a gabled or hip-and-gable roof. It covers the ends of the ridge beam and purlins where they project at the gable and defines the triangular outline of the gable.
The JAANUS dictionary names the parts: the apex where the two boards meet is the ogami, and the lower ends are the hafu-jiri. A carved gegyo usually hangs at the apex, and the lower ends can be decorated too. On a late-Meiji storehouse of the Abe residence in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, the ends of the bargeboards carry plaster relief motifs.
The word also refers to the whole gable that the boards frame. The chidori-hafu set partway up a roof slope, the curved kara-hafu (noki-karahafu), the irimoya-hafu of a hip-and-gable roof, and the sugari-hafu where a roof runs down over a lean-to are all hafu in this sense.
In the records, and what to look for
Records usually mention hafu as part of a type name. The main house of the Ogawa family in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, from 1912, is praised for the large irimoya gable on its southwest end; the main hall of Saikyoji in Mima, Tokushima Prefecture, from 1858, has a front canopy and a sugari-hafu at the rear.
On site, find the gable ends. An inverted V of boards marks the hafu; look for a pendant at the apex and ornament at the lower ends. The number and shape of the gables say a good deal about a building's rank and which side it presents as its front.
Writing simply hafu can leave unclear whether the board or the gable type is meant. Where the record gives a named type, use it.
References
- JAANUS (Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System): hafu
- https://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/jaanus/record/hafu
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Former Abe Family Residence Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014222
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Ogawa Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00006555
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Saikyoji Main Hall
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007408
Last verified: 2026.10.04