A type of gate, lit. Korean gate. Also formerly called *kabukimon 冠木門. Used for many temple gates, in front of castles, and in daimyō 大名 residences. The gate has a tiled, gabled roof *kirizuma yane 切妻屋根 set on two main squared pillars, and two lower and smaller roofs set at right angles, built on side pillars *hikae-bashira 控柱 inside. The small gabled roofs protect the side pillars and the door *tobira 扉 from the weather. The kōraimon serves as a small outer castle gate, usually located at the front of a castle, on the castle-side of a bridge across the moat. The kōraimon, the square courtyard *masugata 桝形 inside it, and the larger inner gate *yaguramon 櫓門 together comprised the masugatamon 桝形門 gate complex, which first appeared around 1600. Examples can be seen at Himejijō 姫路城, Nagoyajō 名古屋城, Kanazawajō 金沢城, and Edojō 江戸城 *Shimizumon 清水門. The name is derived from an old name for Korea, probably because the triple roof resembled Korean roofs.
