What a shirin is
A shirin is a curved member that bridges the gap between the Kumimono and the ceiling. Projecting brackets leave a step below the ceiling, and this fills it with a curve.
It appears at the boundary of the sanctuary. The main hall of Sorinji in Shiga Prefecture, from the late Edo period, is described as modest in scale but thorough in detail, with bracketing of this kind at the boundary of the Gejin and carving on the Kōryō.
Gables carry it too. The main hall of Kasuga Shrine in Oita Prefecture, from the late Edo period, is described as having a gable framed by two curved beams with a Taiheizuka between them, brackets projecting two steps, and a small ceiling with one of these members beneath it.
It can be carved. The main hall of Sansho Shrine in Kagawa Prefecture, built in 1830, is described as having carved boarded members of this kind along with Tabasami and projecting beam ends worked in the round, showing the ability of the local carpenters. Where the member is closed with boards, those boards become the field for carving.
Types, and borrowed into Western-style work
Records distinguish the forms. One is closed with boards; another is filled with a diamond lattice. The inner sanctuary at Enkyoji in Hyogo Prefecture, built in 1673, is described as showing early modern taste in its diamond-patterned members between Wayō brackets, its Zenshūyō altar surround and canopy, and its Ebi-kōryō in the outer area.
Western-style buildings adopted it as a Japanese motif. The former hall of the Utsunomiya agricultural school in Tochigi Prefecture, built in 1903, is described as plain but carefully built, showing Japanese-influenced detail throughout in its coved fascia and Saobuchi-tenjō.
A coved Gō-tenjō uses one as well. Where the ceiling is raised at its centre, the sloping surface between it and the wall is this member.
On site, look up where the ceiling meets the wall. A curved surface rising from the brackets or the wall towards the ceiling is the feature, boarded in one type and latticed in the other.
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties (structures)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/kokuho_bunkazai.html
- National Cultural Properties Database: Sorinji main hall, with bracketing and carved beams at the boundary between outer and inner areas
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003105
- National Cultural Properties Database: Kasuga Shrine Main Hall, its gable framed by paired curved beams and a bulbous strut, with a railed plank veranda
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009084
- National Cultural Properties Database: Sansho Shrine Main Hall, carved fascia boards and canopy brackets of fine workmanship
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014413
- National Cultural Properties Database: Enkyoji inner sanctuary, curved connecting beams among its early modern detailing
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/00004721
- National Cultural Properties Database: former Utsunomiya agricultural school hall, weatherboarded outside
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003056
Last verified: 2026.09.11