Lit. snake's belly.
1 A cornice. Called nokijabara 軒蛇腹, at the eaves of a building and dōjabara 胴蛇腹, near the center. Jabara is said to be derived from the custom of attaching broad concave roof tiles *hiragawara 平瓦, on a slant under the eaves of a mud and plaster fence.
a) nokijabara 軒蛇腹 b) dōjabara 胴蛇腹
left：Mutō 武藤 House (Gifu) right：Hara 原 House (Saitama)
2 The top section of a fence *chasengaki 茶筅垣, used in the garden of a tea ceremony house, chashitsu roji 茶室露地. The fence is made of Japanese bush clover tied in bundles, set vertically, and attached with twine to round bamboo stakes. The tops of the bundles are made to fan out like the whisk *chasen 茶筅 used to beat powdered green tea for tea ceremony. These whisk like tops, known as jabara, extend outward on the ends of fences to form a cornice-like shape.