busshōya 仏餉屋

Also called gokusho 御供所. A Buddhist building used to prepare ritual food offerings called busshō 仏餉, *bukku 仏供, or butsuhan 仏飯. The cooked rice offering is placed on the altar of the enshrined Buddhist deity. One example is the early Kamakura period busshōya at the *Nigatsudō 二月堂 of Tōdaiji 東大寺 in Nara, which is a 5 x 2 bay structure with a gable roof *kirizuma-zukuri 切妻造, covered with thatch *hongawarabuki 本瓦葺. A covered opening at the top of the roof allows smoke to escape, as in some farmhouses, nōka 農家. Large vertically set planks form the entrance that fills one bay on the gable end. Diagonal braces *sasu 扠首, positioned on either side of a center strut *tsuka 束, are visible in the gable pediments. Double neck penetrating struts *hinuki 飛貫, extend beyond the corner pillars and have nosings *kibana 木鼻, in the daibutsu style *daibutsuyō 大仏様. The floor is hard-packed earth with stones spread on top and can be seen extending beyond the walls of the building.