Kaerumata

What a kaerumata is

A kaerumata is a block set on a beam or purlin to carry the load above it. Its outline widens towards the base, and the resemblance to a frog with its legs apart is what gives the part its Japanese name.

Descriptions in the National Cultural Properties Database mention it constantly as a site for carving. The great entrance hall at Ninnaji in Kyoto, built in 1890, is described as carrying fine carving on both these struts and the vertical gable struts, giving a large entrance both dignity and display.

The Reimeiden at the same temple, built in 1911, is described as adopting a manner recalling the late Heian period while carrying carved arabesques of the kind favoured by its designer. The part is where an individual hand shows most clearly.

The gate and flanking walls at Koryuji in Hokkaido are described as richly ornamented, with dragons in cloud, lions, birds and flowers carved on these struts and on the transom panels. Gates use the part as freely as halls do.

Reading a date from the carving

Because carving follows the fashion of its period, these struts are treated as evidence for dating a building. The Harada gate at the Sato Residence in Iwate Prefecture is described as built mainly of zelkova, with cloud-patterned struts along the ridge and on both gable ends showing late Edo workmanship. For a building that has been moved from its original site, this kind of detail helps establish where it came from.

Look for them on the gable end, above the tie beams that link the columns, and over the beam of a front canopy. They sit above eye level, so standing at the front of a hall and looking up under the eaves is the way to find them.

They are not the same as the vertical struts that stand on a curved gable beam. Those are tall and narrow; these spread sideways. Records often list both in the same sentence, as the Ninnaji entry does.