What kabuki means
A kabuki is the horizontal beam spanning the tops of a gate's two main posts and tying them together. It is the key member of the gate frame, stiffening the heads of the posts from which the doors hang and, where there is a roof, carrying its weight.
The Kabukimon is a gate built essentially of this beam and its posts, with no roof or only a minimal one. Roofed gates such as the Yakuimon, Udekimon and Munamon also tie the post heads with a kabuki; in a yakuimon, paired beams set on the kabuki carry the roof.
Reading the records
Records describe the beam as part of the gate type. The front and south gates of the Hatakoshi family house in Matsumoto, Nagano, are kabukimon with two posts tied at the top, the front gate propped from behind by bracing posts. The front gate of Jisaiin, a sub-temple of Tenryuji in Kyoto, is a one-bay yakuimon whose kabuki joining the post heads is clasped between upper and lower beams, the upper carrying a board frog-leg strut under the ridge.
On site, look for the heavy horizontal beam tying the heads of the main posts. With no roof above it, the gate is a kabukimon; with beams and a roof, it is a yakuimon or similar.
References
- 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
- 波多腰家住宅南門｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001708
- 慈済院表門｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00011155
Last verified: 2026.09.27