Unoke-dōshi

What an unoke-dōshi is

An unoke-dōshi is the Gegyo hung at the peak of a curved gable. Unlike the pendant on a straight gable, its outline follows the curve above it.

It attracts carving. The entrance at Tokujuji in Aichi Prefecture, built in 1934, is described as standing on the south side of the corridor running to the priests' quarters east of the main hall, 3.8 by 2.7 metres, with a forward-facing curved gable roofed in Sangawara-buki, a dragon carved between the head-beam and the Kōryō at the front, waves and chrysanthemums on the wings flanking the Taiheizuka above the beam, and a phoenix pendant hung from the curved gable, which the entry singles out as worth seeing.

The main hall of Jogyoji in Tokyo, built in 1914, is described as Irimoya-zukuri entered at the gable end, with a Kōhai projecting under a Teri-mukuri roof, its front adorned by the paired curved beams and strut of the gable and by the carving of this pendant.

In both entries it is listed among the elements that ornament the front, alongside the carving on the beams and the wings beside the strut. On an entrance or canopy with a curved gable, these work as one composition.

Its place among pendants, and its name

It is a kind of gable pendant. Straight gables on Kirizuma-zukuri and Irimoya-zukuri buildings carry plum-blossom or finned pendants; curved gables, whether over the eaves or facing forward, carry this one. The form of the gable decides the name.

On site, look up at the peak of the gable. Where the outline bows and a carved board hangs beneath its centre, that is the feature, and phoenixes, dragons and waves are the usual subjects.

Several written forms of the Japanese name are in use. The records of the Agency for Cultural Affairs use the shortest, and following the spelling of the entry being quoted is the safer course.