What nokijabara means
Nokijabara is a projecting decorative band of stepped mouldings along the top of an outer wall, just below the eaves. The name is said to come from the resemblance of its ribbed profile to the belly of a snake.
On Japanese clay-walled storehouses the band is built up in lime plaster in several steps below the eaves. It makes the top of the wall look heavier, giving the storehouse a firm outline, and helps protect the upper edge of the wall from rain.
On Western-style buildings the horizontal projecting band at the top of a wall is the cornice, which is translated into Japanese as nokijabara. It is made of stone, mortar or plaster and runs along the top of a Parapet or below the eaves. Some modern storehouses have walls rendered in mortar to imitate masonry with a Western-style cornice, so the line between Japanese and Western nokijabara is not always sharp.
Reading the records and the building
Records describe the size of the band and what it is combined with. The record for the second rice storehouse of the Tatsumi family in Ikaruga, Nara, says that its gable, with a large nokijabara, shows above the earthen wall and forms an important part of the estate's appearance. The west storehouse of Nagano Meijo in Chikuma, Nagano, has plastered walls with a drip moulding and a nokijabara, and the west storehouse of the Marumoto brewery in Asakuchi, Okayama, is noted for a generous nokijabara and small windows scattered across its plastered walls.
Among Western-influenced examples, the Isego storehouse in Bunkyo, Tokyo, has mortar walls scored to imitate stone, with a nokijabara and a drip moulding at the base. The bathhouse of the former Matsui family villa in Wakayama is recorded with a cornice along its parapet. Whether a record uses nokijabara or cornice depends on the character of the building, and articles should follow the record's word.
On site, look up at the top of the wall below the eaves. A stepped projecting band in plaster or mortar is a nokijabara. The number of steps and the depth of projection vary and help in reading the status and design of a storehouse.
References
- 辰巳家住宅二の米蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002170
- 長野銘醸西土蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010298
- 丸本酒造西蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003700
- 伊勢五蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003527
- 旧松井家別邸（がんこ六三園）浴室棟｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009365
Last verified: 2026.09.26