Glossary

A ceiling surfaced with thin strips of wood or bamboo woven in a plaited pattern, used in tea rooms and often set against other ceiling types in the same room.

In traditional Okinawan houses, the space under deep eaves carried on outer posts around the building, shading it from strong sun and rain and linking the interior with the yard.

The paved section of riverbed immediately below a dam, surfaced with stone or concrete to take the impact of falling water and prevent scour; often placed between a main dam and its sub-dam.

A short strut that flares at its foot like a shamisen plectrum, set on a beam or tie beam to carry the ridge or an upper member; used in gable framing and as an intercolumnar support.

A large bronze temple bell hung in a bell tower and struck with a swinging beam to mark time and services; its parts, such as the dragon-head loop, bosses, inscription panels and striking seats, have names, and its form and inscriptions help date it.

A triangular dormer gable set on the slope of a roof rather than at its end, used to give a keep or a large roof a marked front.

A display shelf beside the tokonoma made of two boards set at staggered heights; one of the formal fixtures of the shoin style, often combined with a cupboard above and another below.

The stone laid horizontally along the top of a wall or a tunnel portal, throwing rainwater clear of the structure below and finishing the line of the elevation.

The pair of timbers crossing above each end of a shrine ridge, recorded together with the short billets laid along it and a quick way of telling a shrine hall from a Buddhist one.

A bracket set that projects arm and bearing blocks one step forward from the wall to carry the eave beam at its tip; also called hitotesaki, it ranks above three-block sets and below two- and three-step brackets.

A timber lattice fixed so that it projects beyond the outer wall over a window or house front, used on townhouse façades and gatehouse rooms to admit light and air while screening the interior.

A variant of the three-bearing-block bracket in which a bracket arm along the wall and one projecting forward cross on the large bearing block, each carrying bearing blocks at its ends; one step more elaborate than the flat three-block type.

A wall built mainly of earth and capped with a small roof of tiles, usually finished in lime plaster; tsuijibei and neribei are named variants distinguished by how the earth is laid.

The unfloored part of a house at ground level, used for cooking and work, paired with the raised rooms; in a townhouse the through-passage of this kind has a name of its own.

A strongly curved beam used to span between two points at different heights, typically joining a front canopy to the body of a hall.

The narrow boarded strip outside the rooms of a house, mediating between interior and garden, and called by another name when it lies beyond the shelter of the roof.

A space rising through two or more storeys with no intervening floor, found in the earth-floored areas and main rooms of houses, inside storehouses and in the entrance halls of Western-style buildings.

A boat-shaped bracket block set directly on top of a post to carry the beam above, the simplest form of bracketing without bearing blocks, used on houses, shrine buildings and other plain structures.

A ceiling raised along its centre line and sloping down to either side, like the inside of an upturned boat in section; used over the core of Buddhist halls and in tea rooms and sukiya-style rooms.

A bell-shaped bronze chime hung from the eave corners of pagodas and Buddhist halls and from the finial spire, sounding in the wind; examples are also excavated from ancient temple sites.

The niche of a stone shrine or pagoda hollowed out to hold an image, set between base and roof, sometimes with the figure carved directly inside.

An opening or door fitted with slanted slats set at intervals to let air through while keeping out rain and views; used for ventilators in storehouse gables, doors, and the upper parts of Western-style buildings.

The outer area of a Buddhist hall, where worshippers stand, paired with the inner sanctuary and divided from it by bracketing and transoms.

A lower roof leaning against the main body of a building and the space beneath it, housing verandas, canopies and lesser rooms, and recorded by the face on which it stands.

The onion-shaped finial set on the newel posts of a railing or a bridge, and the mark that names the railing type it belongs to.

A ceiling formed by a grid of moulded battens with panels laid over them, used in the inner sanctuaries of Buddhist halls and in the formal reception rooms of houses.

A carved board hung from the peak of a gable to cover the ends of the ridge and purlins, made in named shapes and one of the places where design shows.

The thick plastered band run around the top of a storehouse wall below the eaves, sealing the junction of wall and eaves against fire and rain and, often in black or white plaster, giving the building a strong outline.

The bargeboards fixed in an inverted V along the gable end of a gabled or hip-and-gable roof, and by extension the gable they frame; named variants include chidori-hafu and kara-hafu.

The flared wall enclosing the lower part of a bell tower or similar building, named for its resemblance to a pleated hakama skirt; a bell tower with one looks two-storeyed from outside.

A staircase whose treads sit above drawers and cupboards, combining stair and storage so that no floor area is wasted in a narrow townhouse.

A low veranda projecting in front of a shrine canopy, set below the steps and one level lower than the veranda that runs round the hall.

A low boarded floor laid in front of a shrine sanctuary, at the foot of the steps or under the entrance canopy, usually with a hamaen edge; it serves as a place for rites before the deity.

A concealed lever beam set in the roof space that lifts the eaves by leverage, allowing a deep overhang without relying on bracketing.

A band-shaped decorative metal fitting running across the planks of a gate or storehouse door to hold them together, its ends often cut into arrow-feather or floral shapes.

The direction at right angles to a building's ridge, the direction in which the beams span, or its length; paired with the ridge-direction length to state a building's size.

A subsidiary post set in front of, behind or diagonally behind the main posts of a gate, fence or torii to support them; depending on the gate type it may carry the roof or merely brace the posts.

A free-standing screen wall placed between the gate and the main house of an Okinawan residence, blocking the view in from the street and marking the threshold of the compound; most surviving examples are stone.

A small roof projecting over an outer wall, doorway or window to keep off rain and sun; in shrine and temple architecture the word also denotes the lower-roofed zone surrounding the central core.

A short diagonal member joining two horizontal timbers that meet at right angles, usually at a corner, forming a triangle that stops the frame from distorting in plan.

The building in a temple where the abbot lives and receives visitors, its six-room plan becoming a standard that influenced domestic architecture as well.

A gable-end framing in which two inclined members set in an inverted V on a beam carry the ridge beam, with a short post at the centre; a plain, early form common on shrine buildings.

A curved fence of bamboo or wood leaned against the foot of a townhouse wall or boundary wall toward the street, protecting the base from splashing rain, mud and knocks while shaping the streetscape.

The corridor-like zone around a reception room or building between the outer veranda and the inner rooms; often floored with tatami, it is found in castles, shoin halls and the reception rooms of large houses.

A square hearth sunk into the floor of a farmhouse for heating and cooking, set in the earthen floor or a boarded room, and recorded under more than one name.

A retaining wall built of stacked stone, used for castles and for terracing house plots, and described along three axes: how the stones are worked, how the courses run, and how the corner is built.

A stone wall found in eastern Kochi, in towns such as Nahari and Kiragawa in Muroto: beach or river stones laid up in courses, sometimes capped with a small tiled roof, to shield houses from strong wind and rain.

A projection built out over the stone base of a turret or keep, with an opening in its floor for striking directly at anyone climbing below.

A room, or the inner part of one, whose floor is raised a step above its surroundings as a seat for a person of high rank; it is usually furnished with alcove, shelves and other formal fixtures.

The horizontal beam spanning the tops of a gate's two main posts and tying them together; the kabukimon is the gate type built essentially of this beam and its posts.

A roofless gate formed by two posts joined at the top by a crossbeam called a kabuki; a simple type used as the front or side gate of a residence or a garden entrance.

The pair of main posts flanking the doorway of a gate, heavy squared timbers that hang the doors and anchor the composition of a gatehouse or a yakuimon.

A ceiling of flat boards laid without battens or coffers to form a single smooth surface like a mirror; in Zen Buddha halls and elsewhere it often carries a painted dragon.

A low, rounded mound of earth sealed in white plaster at the foot of a building, between the platform and the underfloor; the white dome between the two storeys of a tahoto pagoda bears the same name.

Double doors that open outward from the centre to either side, said to be named after the doors of a Buddhist shrine cabinet opened to reveal the image; common on storehouse doorways and windows.

The horizontal member capping the top of a wall, railing or torii, shedding rain and defining the outline; on a torii it is the uppermost lintel.

A plan in which rooms line only one side of a corridor, the other side being the outer wall with windows; common in modern school buildings, dormitories and hospitals for its light and ventilation.

A window whose head is shaped in a flame-like cusped curve, a Zen-manner detail on temple buildings, most often cut into a plastered wall.

The space between two columns, and the unit used to count them; also a unit of length, so that records give a building as so many bays or so many ken wide.

A short post set in the interval between columns, capped with a bearing block to support the member above; a simple intercolumnar support common in wayō buildings and, with the frog-leg strut, one of the main forms.

The direction parallel to a building's ridge, or its length in that direction, given in bays or metres and paired with the beam-span dimension to state the size of a building.

The carved end of a tie beam or rainbow beam projecting beyond a post; it spread with the Daibutsuyō and Zen styles, and in the early modern period often took the form of lions, elephants and other creatures.

A veranda whose boards are laid across its width rather than along it, common as the walkway encircling a shrine hall and usually recorded together with its railing.

Gable decoration in which the triangular gable of a hip-and-gable roof is filled with a grid lattice backed by boards; also called kitsune-goshi and widely used on temples, shrines and houses.

A short diagonal member set across the corner between a post and a beam, or a wall and the eaves, to prop up an overhang and stiffen the frame against racking.

A room for growing koji mould on steamed rice, built as a closed, heavily insulated chamber to keep warmth and humidity; found in sake breweries and miso works.

A low fence of posts or lattice standing in front of the projecting lattice or wall of a townhouse, framing the frontage and keeping passers-by at a distance.

Boarding fixed to the lower part, or dado, of a wall to protect it from rain and knocks; widely used on the outer walls of storehouses and townhouses and on the inner walls of school corridors and classrooms.

A small open shelter in a tea garden, rarely more than two metres across, where guests sit and wait before being called in to the tea room.

A decorative metal cover placed over the head of a nail fixing the horizontal trim, often bearing a family crest and ranged where the rank of a room is displayed.

A small doorway set beside or within the main doors of a gate, allowing people to pass without opening the main leaves.

A roofed space built in front of the doorway of a storehouse, formed by extending the storehouse roof or adding a separate roof, and used for loading, work and shelter from rain.

A veranda whose boards run lengthwise along it, common around the reception rooms of houses and often serving as a link between separate buildings.

The building in a temple given over to cooking and to the daily life of the monks, combining an earth floor with living rooms and linked to the main hall by a corridor.

The part of a shrine or temple front where the roof is carried forward to shelter the place where worshippers stand, recorded with the number of bays it spans.

A railing set along the outer edge of a veranda or a bridge, named in records according to whether it carries knobbed finials or is framed like bracketing.

A beam curved gently upward along its length, used inside temple and shrine buildings and across gable ends, and often carved.

A decorative cut-out panel set into the sides of altar platforms, pedestals, bases and doors, its outline curving in a cusped arch above and flaring at the foot.

The short round billets laid across the ridge of a shrine hall at even intervals, recorded together with the crossed finials and sometimes counted.

A structural block set on a beam to carry the load above, splayed towards its base, and one of the places where temple and shrine carpenters concentrate their carving.

The assembly of blocks and arms set above a column to carry the eaves and step them outward, named by how many steps it projects.

A ceiling treatment in which no ceiling is fitted at all and the underside of the roof is finished and left in view, so that rafters and boarding become the design.

A horizontal member spanning the top of a window or doorway to carry the wall above; on storehouses and townhouses it is sometimes shaped like a rainbow beam as a decorative feature.

A sliding door of boards faced with thin horizontal battens at even intervals, used around formal reception rooms and at service gates for its plain, restrained appearance.

A post squared only in part, keeping the rounded surface and traces of bark at its four corners, used in tea rooms and relaxed reception rooms between the log and the squared column.

A bracket set with an arm laid on the main block and three smaller blocks ranged along it, the basic form without projection, used widely on shrine halls and gates.

A narrow horizontal ledge run around an outer wall partway up its height, throwing off rainwater that runs down the face so that the wall below stays dry; when made of tiles it is called mizukiri-gawara.

Rows of small tiles fixed horizontally partway up the plastered walls of storehouses and houses to throw off rainwater running down the wall and protect it; characteristic of Kochi.

The preparation space attached to a tea room where utensils are washed and set out; in a farmhouse the same word can name the room used for water work.

A bracket projecting from a wall to carry a hood, a canopy or a ledge, made in timber, iron, stone or plaster and often ornamented.

A pent roof and enclosure wrapped around the main body of a Buddhist hall or pagoda below its eaves; from outside it adds a tier of roof, making the building look as if it had an extra storey.

A lattice window in the attendants' room of a gatehouse or similar space, allowing those inside to watch the street while remaining hard to see from outside, and giving the gate a solid appearance.

A wooden tablet placed at the ridge when a building is raised, recording the date and the carpenters involved, and sometimes designated together with the building itself.

The horizontal timber running along the top of a roof frame in the direction of the ridge, carrying the upper ends of the rafters; the focus of the ridge-raising rite and often inscribed with the building date.

A window fitted with heavy vertical bars, set in the outer wall of a gatehouse to keep watch on the road and mark the estate as one of rank.

A window of narrow vertical openings cut into the plastered upper wall of a townhouse or farmhouse front, its bars themselves coated in clay and plaster, used for light and air.

A post standing free outside the gable end and carrying the ridge beam directly, used on shrine halls in the shinmei form to support the roof clear of the wall.

A bracket set projecting in three steps to carry the eaves, the deepest of the projecting types and reserved for pagodas, gates and buildings of standing.

A horizontal member fixed across the outside of the columns, binding the frame and, in a reception room, marking the formality of the space.

The inner sanctuary of a Buddhist hall, where the principal image is enshrined, paired with the outer area for worshippers and divided from it by bracketing and transoms.

A corridor running through the middle of a building with rooms on both sides, adopted in modern house plans to separate the movement of guests from that of the household.

A room for storing clothes and household goods, set behind the reception rooms and sometimes doubling as a bedroom; in large houses a block of its own.

A wall built of alternating layers of roof tiles and clay, capped with a tiled roof; some are plastered over, others leave the tile courses showing as horizontal stripes; used around temples and estates.

The small entrance of a rustic tea room through which guests enter on their knees, bending low; also written with a single character.

Long dressed stones laid end to end in a line, used as the base of buildings and walls, as the top edging of stone walls and as kerbs along a site.

A beam in a roof frame that rises at the pitch of the roof from the eave beam toward the ridge; by reducing horizontal beams and struts it frees the roof space, as in the upper floors of storehouses and townhouses.

A curved gable formed by lifting part of the eaves line into a bow, set over a canopy or an entrance to mark the front of a building.

A projecting band of stepped mouldings along the top of an outer wall below the eaves; on storehouses it is built up in plaster, and on Western-style buildings it corresponds to the cornice.

A horizontal tie passed through holes cut in the posts and wedged tight to lock them together; named by position as head, lintel-level, waist or ground ties.

A roof, or the part of a building beneath it, attached beside a main block with its ridge set one step lower; it usually houses the kitchen, storerooms or bath.

A heavy diagonal member that passes through a bracket complex and projects outward to carry the eaves, its inner end held down by the roof so that it works as a lever; used in three-step and Zen-style bracketing.

The decorative wings fixed to either side of the bulbous gable strut, spreading outward and usually carved to enrich the gable.

The ornamental tile set at the end of a roof ridge, sometimes inscribed with a date that records when the roof itself was worked on.

A transom filled with fine vertical bars set close together like the reed of a loom, used in formal reception rooms and above gate doors.

A shallow thick board set against the wall of a reception room, where a hanging scroll is displayed with flowers or an incense burner before it; regarded as an early form of the tokonoma.

A low wall rising above the roof edge along the top of an outer wall; it encloses flat roofs and was also raised high on façades to hide a pitched roof behind a Western-looking front.

A steel beam built up from plates into an I-shaped section, widely used for railway and road bridges; in Japanese also called bangeta, and most often used as a deck girder carrying the track on top.

A pair of columns set behind the altar dais in the inner sanctuary of a Buddhist hall, one of the two ways of closing the space behind the image.

The opening between the head of a doorway and the ceiling, admitting light and air and serving as a field for carving or fine latticework.

A small recess set at intervals into the side wall of a tunnel, giving workers inside somewhere to stand clear while a train passes.

A window filled with square bars or bamboo set at even intervals, used in the flanking bays of shrine halls and across townhouse fronts to pass light and air while blocking the view.

The square base set at the apex of a pyramidal roof or a pagoda, carrying the finial above it and closing the top of the roof.

A small opening cut in the wall of a turret or rampart wall for shooting through, made in forms for the bow and for the gun, and sometimes concealed behind plaster.

The path of approach to a shrine or temple, running from the entrance torii or gate to the main hall and often paved and lined with trees or lanterns.

A hinged door framed with stiles and rails, its panels filled with thin boards, lattice or pierced carving; used on temple and shrine halls and gates, and associated with the Zen style.

A ceiling of boards laid over thin battens running in parallel, simpler than the coffered kind and the commonest ceiling in Japanese houses.

A deep lintel mortised between posts that both carries sliding doors and, like a beam, takes load and stiffens the frame; common between rooms in farmhouses.

A bracket arm mortised into the side of a post rather than set on a bearing block at its top; characteristic of the Daibutsuyo style and also found in Zen-style buildings and modern gates.

A basin in which water taken into a channel slows so that the sediment it carries settles out; built below intakes for hydroelectric, water-supply and irrigation channels, with a sluice for flushing the sand.

A low boarded step between the entrance floor and the raised rooms, where guests were received, found in the houses of headmen and the well-to-do as a mark of standing.

The great central post running up through a three- or five-storied pagoda and carrying the finial spire at its top; from the medieval period it typically stops above the first-storey ceiling rather than reaching the ground.

A curved member bridging the gap between the bracketing and the ceiling, smoothing the junction; when closed with boards it takes a name of its own.

A window formed by leaving part of an earthen wall unplastered so that the lath beneath shows through, used in tea rooms and garden buildings in no fixed shape.

A short wall running out to either side of a gate, tying it into the boundary of the plot so that the gate does not stand alone.

The lowered section cut into the crest of an erosion-control dam through which water is concentrated and passed, keeping flow at the centre and away from the banks; records give its width and side slopes.

A low secondary dam built downstream of a main erosion-control dam to stop the falling water from scouring the bed, with an apron and revetments between the two forming a single installation.

A fence closed at the base with boards or plaster and open above with slats or lattice, used around shrine sanctuaries and to divide precincts while leaving the interior visible.

The ear-shaped horns rising from the four corners of the roof of a hōkyōintō stone monument, its most distinctive feature; their angle, shape and carved ornament change with period.

The metal spire rising from the top of a pagoda, built up of a base plate, inverted bowl, lotus, nine rings, flame-shaped openwork and a jewel, marking the building as a reliquary tower.

The exceptionally thick pillar at the centre of a taisha-zukuri shrine sanctuary, the middle of nine posts set three by three and long held sacred; distinct from the central post of a pagoda.

A latticed panel backed with boards, hinged at the top and swung upward and outward, used across the front of shrine and temple halls so that opening it turns the panel into a canopy.

The raised dais in the inner sanctuary of a Buddhist hall on which the principal image is placed, named after the world-mountain of Buddhist cosmology.

A triangular panel filling the angle between a canopy column and the beam above it, carved and counted among the display pieces on a shrine front.

A vertical strut standing on a curved beam in gable framing, swelling towards its base and usually flanked by carved wings.

The general term for a fence enclosing a shrine's main sanctuary and marking off sacred ground; made of timber or stone, in many forms distinguished by material and the way the boards or bars are set.

The sloping members that run from the ridge to the eaves to carry the roof, recorded by the number of tiers and the spacing between them.

A pattern of two members or lines crossing diagonally; in buildings, diagonally crossed battens, tasuki-zan, are set into walls, transoms and fittings as ornament.

A corridor floored with tatami, run around a formal reception room between it and the veranda; regarded as a finer finish than a boarded corridor and common in large modern residences, restaurants and inns.

A small cupboard set against the ceiling above the shelves beside an alcove or above a closet; in the shoin style the standard alcove-side arrangement puts it above the staggered shelves with a lower cupboard below.

The curve of a roof or gable that combines a concave sweep with a convex swell; the swell alone is also recorded on roofs, canopies and gables.

The boxed recess at the end of an opening into which the shutters slide, so that the front can stand open through the day.

The ornamental post beside the alcove, the most conspicuous column in a reception room, chosen from prized timber and often left as a log or with its bark edge showing.

The raised recess in a reception room where a scroll or a flower arrangement is displayed, and the feature by which the standing of the room is judged.

The shelved recess beside the alcove, fitted with staggered shelves and low cupboards, and the third element of the formal reception-room fittings.

The doorway of a storehouse together with the space in front of it, where a heavy door hangs under a protective hood.

The earth-floored passage that runs from the street front to the rear of a townhouse, with the living rooms ranged along one or both sides.

A canopy thrown out over an earth-floored area, sheltering the ground before a storehouse or a work space from the rain.

A heavy door built up from earth over a timber core and finished in plaster, hung at storehouse doorways and castle gates to check the spread of fire.

An earthen wall, built of rammed or layered clay and capped with a small tiled roof, that encloses temples, palaces and residences; some are instead plastered over a timber frame.

A built-in desk with a paper-screened window projecting towards the veranda beside the alcove, one of the fittings that define the formal reception room.

A window hinged at the top and pushed open from below, set in pairs on the fighting face of a castle turret alongside the loopholes.

The arrangement of bracket sets not only on top of the posts but also, in the same form, between them; a hallmark of the Zen style that lines the eaves with closely spaced brackets.

A wing projecting at right angles from the main block of a house, roofed with its ridge turned to the other direction and used for reception rooms, kitchens or work spaces.

A low upper storey without standing headroom, used for storage or sleeping, and a common feature of pre-modern townhouses.

The built face at the mouth of a tunnel, composed of pilasters, coping and string courses, and the part where design effort is concentrated.

A veranda enclosed within the sliding shutters or glass doors outside a reception room, forming part of the interior between the matted room and the garden.

A small fire wall raised at the gable end or above the roof of a townhouse, checking the spread of flame from a neighbour and, being visible from the street, advertising the owner's standing.

A short horizontal member projecting from a post to carry an eave beam or canopy; it gives the udekimon gate its name and is widely used to extend the eaves of houses.

A gate whose two main posts carry projecting brackets front and back to support the eave beams of a small gabled roof; a simple form common for house entrances, garden gates and minor temple gates.

The pendant hung at the peak of a curved gable, shaped to follow that curve and often carved with a phoenix to ornament the front of a building.

A heavy beam run lengthwise through the middle of a roof frame; in wide buildings it supports the tie beams or inclined beams midway and carries the roof load.

A shaft sunk vertically from the surface, combined with a horizontal drift to form part of a culvert or a tunnel.

A boarded screen set at the rear end of the side veranda of a shrine sanctuary, closing off the veranda so that it does not continue round the back; often decorated with carving.

A window fitted with stout bars on the outer wall and a small hood above, used on gatehouses, storehouses and samurai residences; the name is said to come from its use at the houses of yoriki, Edo police officials.

A mat-floored room on the raised floor, most often the room where guests are received, fitted with an alcove and an anteroom and placed at the upper end of the house.

The collective name for the fixtures of a reception room in the shoin style: the alcove, staggered shelves, built-in desk and ornamental doorway; first places for displaying art, they became the standard marks of a room's formality.

A cabinet with doors for enshrining a Buddhist image, sutras or relics, often made in the form of a small hall and set in the inner sanctuary or on the altar platform.

Rafters laid radiating outward like the ribs of a folding fan, a hallmark of the Zen style; where only the corners radiate, the layout is called sumi-ōgidaruki.