Also written 犬行. Lit. dog run. A narrow inset in wall ramparts, or in an embankment of earth forming a footpath or ledge. However, the term is also broadly applied.
1 A ribbon of land situated between the ramparts of a castle and the moat, or between a mud fence and a merchant's establishment *machiya 町家. From the 7th century through the 19th century, this strip of land was public area that was part of a road. Often, there were control points marked off by a low fence, sometimes made of bamboo, and covered by a pent roof *hisashi 廂. A place to tether houses, *komayose 駒寄せ, was included.
2 An area about the depth of half a bay, a little over three feet which fronted merchant dwellings in the 17th-19th centuries. The ground was prepared by packing it with lime and gravel. Posts at about six foot intervals supported the pent roof. A waist-high mud fence covered with black plaster and decorated with the sumidate gata 隅立形 pattern surrounded the building except at the entrance. The space between posts was often curtained. Originally, this covered area was a public walkway. The covered sidewalks in front of shops today descend from this Edo period custom.
3 In Osaka during the Edo period, a stretch of land that ran along the base of a stone wall beside a river bank.
4 A narrow path outside a wall near an earthen embankment or stone wall. It runs parallel to the earthen embankment and is used for patrols.