Sukashibori

What sukashibori is

Sukashibori is carving that cuts right through a board so that the space behind shows. Relief carving models the surface; this pierces it, letting light and air through while forming a pattern.

Gates use it. The imperial messenger gate at Ninnaji in Kyoto, built in 1914, is described as standing east-facing before the white study, a four-legged gate with curved gables front and back and hipped-and-gabled sides under Hiwadabuki, modelled on a famous gate elsewhere, its wall surfaces and panelled doors filled with flowing openwork of stylised flowers, phoenixes and arabesques. The entry credits the designer by name.

The subjects are recorded as well as the technique, which indicates how central the carving is to the design.

Ranma use it too. The imperial gate at the same temple, also of 1914, is described as having widely spaced Taruki and a transom of this kind above its panelled doors.

Compared with other transoms

Transoms come in several kinds. Bamboo-node work and the Osa-ranma both compose their surfaces from repeated straight members. Openwork differs in cutting curved figures out of a board.

That is why records name the kind. The main hall of Tokujuji in Aichi Prefecture is described as omitting the columns between rooms in its outer area and using bamboo-node transoms to create an open space: the choice of type shapes the character of the room.

On site, look through the transom or door towards the light. Where the board is cut through and daylight enters in the shape of the pattern, the carving is pierced; where the cutting stops partway and nothing shows behind, it is relief.