What hikaebashira means
A hikaebashira is a subsidiary post set in front of, behind or diagonally behind the main posts of a gate, fence or torii to support them. The main posts of a gate carry the doors, and the weight of the leaves and the force of opening and closing tend to tip them, so bracing posts are added to keep them upright. Main and bracing posts are usually joined with through-ties or beams.
Whether the bracing posts carry the roof is one of the main clues to gate type. In a Yakuimon they share the roof with the main posts; the record for the front gate of the former Nagashima family house describes a ridge beam carried on posts standing on a beam that spans the main and rear posts. A Shikyakumon has four bracing posts, two in front and two behind, all beneath the roof. A Kōraimon gives its rear posts small roofs of their own. In an Udekimon, a Munamon or a Kabukimon, by contrast, the bracing posts carry no roof and serve only to steady the main posts.
Reading the records and the gate
Records give the number and position of bracing posts. The front gate of a shrine-priest family in Hidakagawa, Wakayama, is recorded as a munamon three bays wide with two bracing posts behind the central bay. The front gate of Sesonji is an udekimon with bracing posts in front of and behind the main posts, tied with through-ties. The front gate of the Hatakoshi family house is a kabukimon supported by bracing posts set diagonally behind. The arrangement varies, behind only, front and back, or diagonal, and it corresponds to the type and size of the gate.
On site, walk round to the side of the gate and see whether the roof reaches over the bracing posts. If it covers them, the gate is a yakuimon or shikyakumon; if the bracing posts have their own small roofs, it is a koraimon; if the roof sits only over the main posts and the bracing posts stand outside it, they belong to a munamon, udekimon or similar gate.
References
- 旧長島家住宅表門｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014742
- 寒川家住宅表門｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009822
- 世尊寺表門｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005791
- 波多腰家住宅表門｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001705
Last verified: 2026.09.26