hajikidake 弾竹

Also bakuchiku-bashira 爆竹柱.

1　A method. Introduced in the Edo period, of constructing the central pillar *shinbashira 心柱 in a five-storied pagoda *gojū-no-tō 五重塔. The central pillar was suspended by iron chains from the fourth story so that it did not rest on a base stone. Posts were then built around the central pillar to allow it to sway easily from top to bottom. Slender bamboo strips called hajikidake were attached to the upper part of central pillar in two places to absorb vibration. Example: Nikkō Tōshōgū Gojū-no-tō 日光東照宮五重塔 (1818) Tochigi Prefecture.

2　The central pillar is surrounded by four short inclining posts, called sagichō-bashira 左義長柱. They are located within the roof framework beneath the *roban 露盤 and above the four pillars called *shiten-bashira 四天柱. Sagichō-bashira frame the upper part of the bamboo strips and receive the load of the roban and the remaining parts of the *sōrin 相輪.