Nagare-zukuri

What nagare-zukuri means

Nagare-zukuri is a form of shrine hall in which the front slope of a Kirizuma-zukuri roof is carried down and forward to shelter the place where worshippers stand. The two slopes are of unequal length, giving the building a distinctly forward-leaning profile.

The National Cultural Properties Database prefixes the number of bays across the front. The main hall of Tenmangu in Gunma Prefecture is recorded as a single-bay hall of this form under temporary copper sheeting; the main hall of Takasu Shrine in Fukuoka Prefecture as a three-bay hall with a Hiwadabuki roof.

Variants are recorded as they occur. The main hall of Sakurai Shrine in Fukuoka Prefecture is entered as a three-bay hall of this form, cypress-bark roofed, with rain guards on both gable ends, while one hall at Tenmangu carries a curved gable over the rear eaves.

The roofing material is a separate matter. Cypress bark, copper sheet and boards all appear, and the record lists form and covering side by side rather than as a single compound.

Even small halls are described in full

Itsukushima Shrine, a subsidiary hall at Kasuga Shrine in Oita Prefecture, is described as a single-bay hall of this form roofed in copper sheet, standing on a cut-stone base with round columns tied by horizontal members, with boat-shaped bracket blocks, double rows of closely spaced rafters, a gable ornament of crossed struts, a plank veranda with a railing, and two wooden steps at the front. The entry closes by calling it carefully built despite its small size.

The description moves from foundation to columns, brackets, eaves, gable, veranda and steps. Shrine records tend to follow that order, and knowing the sequence makes them far easier to read.

On site, look at the outline of the roof. If the rear slope is short and the front slope runs long and low over the approach, the hall takes this form; if the two slopes are roughly equal, it is simply gabled.