1 Also *engawa 縁側. A veranda. Formerly, en and engawa were used interchangeably but now en is considered to be an exposed veranda open to the air while engawa now often indicates to a corridor inside the building between the drawing room and outdoors, where sliding doors can be opened to the outside. Usually en is a long narrow area on the exterior of a floored structure. However, its dimensions and style vary according to the type of building. An en may be part of a farmhouse nōka 農家, a traditional upperclass house, temple or shrine. See *nure-en 濡縁; *hiro-en 広縁; kure-en 榑縁; ama-en 雨縁. Enmawari 縁廻 refers to any member that is connected to the structure of a veranda.
Types of veranda include: mawari-en 回縁, a veranda that continues around all four sides of a building, and sunoko-en 簀子縁, veranda with narrow spaces between the boards or split or round bamboos so that rain can drain through and air can circulate around them allowing them to dry more quickly than adjacent boards that are tightly joined.
2 En also refers to the long, narrow wooden member found on the outermost part of a floor.
3 The edge between aisles *hisashi 廂, that surrounds the core of a building *moya 母屋.