Nuki

What nuki means

A nuki is a horizontal tie that passes through rectangular holes cut in the posts, linking them together. Once threaded through, it is locked with driven wedges so that tie and post act as one. Several ties set at different heights keep the posts from leaning or falling and stiffen the timber frame.

Ties are named by height. A head tie joins the tops of the posts; a lintel-level tie runs at about the height of the tops of doors and screens; a waist tie crosses the middle of the wall; and a ground tie runs near the foot. In buildings with exposed posts, Shinkabe walls, the ties are usually buried in the wall, where they carry the wall framework, and cannot be seen. On shrines and gates some ties are left visible as part of the design.

The Nageshi sits at a similar height but is fixed differently: it is nailed to the outer face of the posts and does not pass through them. Early buildings relied on nageshi to hold the posts, while nuki, which pierce the posts, brace the frame more strongly and are said to have spread widely after the Daibutsuyō manner was introduced.

Reading the records and the building

Records mention nuki when they describe how the frame is braced. The record for the office building of Hasedera describes posts set at half-bay intervals with several tiers of nuki, a close post layout stiffened by many ties. For gates, the record for the front gate of Sesonji says that bracing posts stand in front of and behind the main posts and are tied to them with nuki; for fences, the record for the Kobayashi family's fence says the posts on the sill are joined with nuki. They also appear in roof frames: the record for the front gate of the former Sato family house describes a double-beam roof frame whose short posts are secured with nuki.

On site, look at the side of a post to see whether a horizontal member runs through it or is fixed to its face. If the end of the same piece shows on the far side, or wedges are visible at the joint, it is a nuki. A member projecting along the outer face of the posts is more likely a nageshi.