What ōgidaruki means
Ōgidaruki is a way of laying the rafters of the eaves so that they radiate from the centre of the building like the ribs of a folding fan. The nearer they come to the corner, the more they splay, so that each corner opens like a fan.
In the native Wayō style, rafters are normally laid parallel, with the angle changed only at the corners. Fan rafters are regarded as a feature of the Zen style and give the eave soffit a distinctive pattern of radiating lines. Some buildings radiate the rafters along the whole eave, others only at the corners, the latter called sumi-ōgidaruki. Records often combine the term with double-layered eaves, as double fan rafters or double corner-fan rafters.
Reading the records and the building
Records give the rafter layout as part of the eaves. The main hall of Tofukuji in Kyoto has double fan rafters in both main roof and mokoshi, following the standard Zen hall form. The Mieidō of Tairyuji in Anan, Tokushima, has demitsudo brackets on round posts and double fan rafters. The gate of Joshoji in Kakamigahara, Gifu, combines one-step brackets in tsumegumi with double corner-fan rafters. At Einichiji in Tamba, Hyogo, the palace-like sutra case inside the repository has fan-raftered eaves.
On site, stand at a corner and look up at the eaves. Rafters splaying toward the corner are ōgidaruki; rafters running parallel are the usual parallel type. Check too whether only the corners splay or the whole eave.
References
- 東福寺本堂｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014859
- 貞照寺門｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005611
- 太龍寺御影堂｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009668
- 慧日寺経蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010325
Last verified: 2026.09.27