What magusa means
A magusa is a horizontal member spanning the top of a window, doorway or other opening. It carries the weight of the wall above and transfers it to the posts or walls on either side, the equivalent of a lintel.
In timber buildings the magusa is set as the head of the opening with the wall plastered above it. On storehouses and townhouses its lower edge or face is sometimes shaped in a curve like a rainbow beam and displayed as ornament. The kamoi, a grooved rail, mainly guides sliding doors, whereas the magusa mainly supports the wall above; the Nageshi is a finishing member nailed to the face of posts and plays no structural part in an opening.
Reading the records and the building
Records describe the treatment of the magusa. The soy sauce storehouse of Shioya Brewery in Suzaka, Nagano, a single-storey clay-walled building presenting a large gable to the street, has a big barred window at the centre of its wall with its magusa shaped like a rainbow beam, giving an imposing front. The archive storehouse of the same property also has a rainbow-beam magusa over its doorway, which is hung with a Kakegonuri door.
On site, look for a heavy horizontal member directly above an opening. On storehouses it may be plastered over so that only its shape shows; a curved band running over an opening indicates a magusa displayed as ornament.
References
- 塩屋醸造醤油蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00006229
- 塩屋醸造文庫蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00006234
Last verified: 2026.09.26