Lit. stepping stone. The stone placed directly under the crawl door entrance, *nijiriguchi 躙口, of a tea ceremony hut *chashitsu 茶室. One of the trump stones, *yaku-ishi 役石, because of its placement closest to the chashitsu, it is also called the first stone *hatsu-no-ishi 初の石. It is considered best to arrange the fumi-ishi so that the guest kneeling on it will be close to the floor of the nijiriguchi, to facilitate easy entrance. Therefore, a somewhat large stone with a flat top is used, and it is placed about 18 cm away from the chashitsu so that the top is about 36 cm below the entrance sill. The height of the fumi-ishi depends on the height of the nijiriguchi. Next to the fumi-ishi are the falling stone, *ochi-ishi 落石, and the mounting stone, *nori-ishi 乗石. Occasionally, the term fumi-ishi refers to two of the trump stones located in the ornamental toilet, *sunasetchin 砂雪隠. According to *Chadō sentei 茶道筌蹄 (1816), the stone at the entrance to the sunasetchin is called the under-the-door stone, toshita-no-ishi 戸下の石, while the stones to either side are called fumi-ishi. They are divided into the front stone, *mae-ishi 前石, and the foot rest stone, ashikake-ishi 足掛石.
