Also referred to as *hariyuki 梁行; also written 張り間.
1 The direction in which *hari 梁, transverse beams run in a building. A member running in the direction of the hari, harima hōkō 梁間方向 runs at right angles to the ridge of the roof.
2 The distance spanned by the main transverse beams *jōyabari 上屋梁, *koyabari 小屋梁, supporting the roof structure *koyagumi 小屋組, measured from the centerline of the support posts *hashira 柱, or struts *tsuka 束, at both ends of the building. The figure may be measured in precise dimensional terms (i.e. in meters or in Japanese feet shaku 尺), or in no. of bays *ken 間. If a building has a pent roof *geya 下屋, or an aisle *hisashi 廂 at the front or rear, the harima is less than the total cross-sectional depth *okuyuki 奥行 of the building. Edo period documents show that in the case of traditional vernacular houses *minka 民家, the sizes of buildings are believed to understate the actual dimensions because a harima span of more than three ken was prohibited in many areas, so additional space was simply defined as geya and not recorded.
3 The overall cross-sectional width of a building (measured in precise dimensions or number of bays), irrespective of the span of the main transverse beams. See *ketayuki 桁行 (the longitudinal equivalent of harima).