What nobori-bari means
A nobori-bari, or raking beam, is a beam in a roof frame that rises at the pitch of the roof from the eave beam toward the ridge. Instead of laying the main beams level, the builder sets them on the slope of the roof, so the middle of the roof space is not filled with beams and struts and the upper volume can be used.
In the ordinary Japanese roof frame, Wagoya, level tie beams span from one eave beam to the other and short posts stand on them to carry the purlins and ridge. That arrangement fills the roof space with beams and posts, and any upper floor has a low ceiling. With raking beams the upper room can rise almost to the slope of the roof, and the beams can be left exposed as part of the interior. The record for a storage building of Nagano Meijo, a sake brewery, states that its raking-beam roof frame achieves a tall interior.
Two neighbouring members are worth distinguishing. Rafters, Taruki, also follow the slope, but they are slender pieces carrying the roof boards, while a nobori-bari is a heavy beam carrying purlins and rafters. In thatched farmhouses, the sasu are inclined members joined in an inverted V at the ridge and set on top of the tie beams, which is a different system from beams climbing from the eave beam.
Reading the records and the building
Records mention the member in describing the roof frame, noting that the roof uses raking beams or is framed in the raking-beam manner. It is written in two ways in Japanese with the same meaning, and articles can follow the record. The member is common in two-storey clay-walled storehouses and in the upper floors of townhouses.
Raking beams are usually combined with other beams. The record for the storehouse of the former Aikawa family notes that the raking beams are tied together with level connecting beams, which keep the sloping members from spreading. The record for the front storehouse of the Nakamura family mentions raking beams together with a ushibari, a heavy beam running along the length of the building that supports the raking beams partway up or at their upper ends.
On site, go up to the upper floor or the roof space and see whether the beams run level or climb with the roof. Heavy sloping beams set in a row from eaves to ridge are nobori-bari. Where the upper floor has no ceiling, they can also be seen by looking up from below.
References
- 長野銘醸貯蔵蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010291
- 旧相川家住宅土蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00015407
- 中村家住宅表土蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005435
- 旧石橋家住宅西蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009632
Last verified: 2026.09.26