hanahijiki 花肘木

Lit. flower bracket arm. A decorative bracket arm *hijiki 肘木 that appeared in the latter part of the Kamakura period. It evolved from the use of a bracket arm topped by twin bearing blocks narabito 双斗 (see *futatsudo tokyō 二斗斗きょう), an architectural elements introduced with the daibutsu style *daibutsuyō 大仏様 in the early Kamakura period. It is thought that the decorative ends of the hanahijiki are derived from the placement of two daibutsu style nosings *kibana 木鼻, back to back. The moldings, incised with numerous patterns and shapes, have subtle variations from building to building. Like bearing-block capped struts *kentozuka 間斗束 and frog-leg struts *kaerumata 蟇股, hanahijiki are placed at intervals *nakazonae 中備 between the bracket complexes *tokyō 斗きょう positioned atop the pillars *hashira 柱. There are some hanahijiki that have two bearing blocks placed on each nosing to carry a bracket tie beam *tōshihijiki 通し肘木. Others support the bracket tie beam directly. A very rare arrangement has the twin bearing blocks carrying a hanahijiki that supports two more bearing blocks into which the bracket tie beam is set. Eventually, the hanahijiki was extended in length so that it could carry three bearing blocks and be used as a 3-on-1 bracket complex *mitsudo tokyō 三斗斗きょう.