Kabukimon

What kabukimon means

A kabukimon is a gate made of two posts joined near the top by a crossbeam called a kabuki, and as a rule it has no roof. Simple and inexpensive, it was widely used as the front or side gate of a residence, as a garden entrance and as an opening in a boundary wall. Some have board doors hung between the posts; others are left open.

The kabuki is a horizontal member tying the posts together near their tops, and it is often passed through them. The records for the front gate and the south gate of the Hatakoshi family house both describe them as kabukimon formed by joining the tops of two posts with a through-tie. The crossbeam keeps the posts from leaning and also defines the outline of the gate.

It is clearly distinct from gates with roofs. An Udekimon carries a gabled roof on brackets projecting from the main posts, and a Munamon sets a ridged roof directly on them. A Yakuimon or Shikyakumon roofs over its bracing posts as well. A kabukimon has no roof at all and consists of posts and crossbeam alone.

Reading the records and the gate

Records for registered buildings often give only the type and the width in the structure line, as a timber kabukimon four metres wide. The commentary may add how the gate is braced: the record for the front gate of the Hatakoshi family says it is supported by bracing posts set diagonally behind and joined to walls on either side. Other records mention such a gate in passing, as when the record for a gatekeeper's lodge notes a kabukimon opening in a clay wall.

On site, confirm that there is no roof over the posts and look at the crossbeam linking their tops. If its ends project beyond the posts, it has been passed through them. Roofless gates weather quickly and many have had posts or crossbeams replaced, so the type and the age of the timber should be considered separately.