karakasadate 傘建て

A structural system found in small-scale, Edo period thatched farmhouses in the area of Shiga Prefecture north of Lake Biwa 琵琶, and in parts of Fukui Prefecture. The houses either had a three-room hall-type plan, hiromagata mimadori 広間型三間取, or a four-room plan, ta-no-jigata yonmadori 田の字型四間取. A large principal post stood at the center of the living area, kyoshitsubu 居室部, where the partitions dividing the rooms met in the case of the three-room plan or intersected in the case of the four-room plan. From this central post, linking beams *tsunagibari 繋梁, spanned across to each of four posts, located at each side of the house. The tsunagibari were therefore exactly at right angles. The central post and the four side posts together formed the basis of the structural frame *jikubu 軸部. Unusually, the corner posts performed only a secondary structural function. The roof was of the principal-rafter type (see *sasu 扠首). The term karakasadate is believed to have been coined by a vernacular house researcher.