What an odaruki is
An odaruki, or tail rafter, is a heavy diagonal member that runs through a bracket complex and projects beyond it to carry the eaves at its tip. It slopes like a rafter but belongs to the bracketing, distinct from the rafters that carry the roof surface.
According to the JAANUS dictionary, in a three-step bracket complex the tail rafter passes through the second step and supports the third, while its inner end reaches deep into the building and is held down by the weight of the roof. The load on the inner end counteracts the downward pull of the eaves, like a lever. In Zen-style work it passes through both the first and second steps.
At the Jizo Hall of Shofukuji in Higashimurayama, Tokyo, a National Treasure of 1407, repairs in 1933 found an ink inscription giving the building date on a bracket at the inner end of a tail rafter, deep inside the hall.
In the records, and what to look for
Records prefix bracket types with tail-rafter. The great gate of Takada Betsuin in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, from 1827, is recorded with Zen-style three-step bracketing with tail rafters, and the bell tower of Myorakuji in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, from 1837, with two-step bracketing with tail rafters. The 1954 bell tower of Fukusenbo in Akitakata, Hiroshima Prefecture, even pairs them with one-step degumi, so they are not exclusive to three-step work.
On site, look up at the brackets from the side. A thick member angling down and out from the middle of the complex is the tail rafter; its end is often cut on a slant or carved.
Two stacked tail rafters are recorded as a double tail rafter. Mention tail rafters only where the record does, together with the number of bracket steps.
References
- JAANUS (Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System): odaruki
- https://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/jaanus/record/odaruki
- Cultural Heritage Online (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Shofukuji Jizo Hall
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/173812
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Takada Betsuin Great Gate
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010572
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Myorakuji Bell Tower
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014625
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Fukusenbo Bell Tower
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010353
Last verified: 2026.10.04