Keywords
Architecture
Decorations
The decorative pattern of a ten-petalled flower which is used on roof tiles, particularly on round eaves tiles *nokimarugawara 軒丸瓦. Jūyō (ten-leaf) refers to the number of petals, and *soben 素弁 (simple petal) refers to their plain, undecorated form. They have been found on the earliest Japanese roof tiles excavated from Asukadera 飛鳥寺, Hōryūji 法隆寺, late 6th century in Nara. A similar design with nine petals is called kuyōsoben rengemon 九葉素弁蓮華文, and with eight petals, hachiyōsoben rengemon 八葉素弁蓮華文.