Oigata

What oigata are

Oigata are the decorative wings fixed to either side of a Taiheizuka. They spread outward from the strut and are usually carved, which is what gives a gable its display. The Japanese name is said to derive from the shape of a travelling pannier.

Records name them with the strut. The great entrance hall at Ninnaji in Kyoto, built in 1890, is described as carrying fine carving on its Kaerumata and on the wings of its gable strut, giving a large entrance both dignity and display.

Subjects are sometimes given. The entrance at Tokujuji in Aichi Prefecture, built in 1934, is described as having a dragon carved between the head-beam and the Kōryō at the front, and wings representing chrysanthemums among waves flanking the strut above the beam, together with a phoenix Unoke-dōshi hung from the curved gable.

The strut and its wings may be named as a single compound. The main hall of Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine in Yamagata Prefecture, built in 1711, is described as having an unusual gable in which blocks and arms are stacked in two tiers on the curved beam with a winged strut standing above them.

Their place in the gable

A gable is composed from the curved beam, the strut, these wings and the Gegyo. The beam spans horizontally, the strut stands on it, the wings flank the strut, and the pendant hangs at the peak. On an entrance or a Kōhai they work together as one composition.

Carving concentrates there because the gable is what the eye meets from the front. The Tokujuji entry names three subjects on a single gable end.

On site, look up at the gable from directly in front. Boards spreading like wings to either side of the upright strut at the centre are the feature. Many struts have none, and their presence marks a higher level of finish.