Keywords
Architecture
Folk Dwellings
A method of construction that employed long substantial beams called *chōnabari 釿梁 to support the main transverse beams *jōyabari 上屋梁, without the main frame posts *jōyabashira 上屋柱. The chōnabari are straight at one end and sharply curved at the other. The beam style derives its name from the beam's resemblance to an adze *chōna 釿. This construction system is particularly associated with thatched vernacular houses *minka 民家 in the Hida 飛騨 district of Gifu Prefecture and in Toyama Prefecture, and with steep A-frame *gasshō-zukuri 合掌造 houses. It became increasing popular in the latter half of the Edo period.