kayaoi 茅負

An eave support. A curved horizontal timber that connects the rafters. It is placed on flying rafters that are under the eaves filler *uragō 裏甲 that carries the tile seat *kawaraza 瓦座. In ancient times the eave support and the tile seat were one piece. The kayaoi adds support to the eave ends, since rafters in the Nara period extended only slightly (about two centimeters or a little over) beyond the eaves support. The tiles, therefore, were placed directly on the kayaoi.