ko-ita 小板

1　The small strip of red pine that is inserted between the end of the firebox and the rear wall, or between the firebox and a wooden floored alcove *tokonoma 床の間. The ko-ita is 6.0 to 6.6 cm wide with the length equaling the width of the hearth position at the right inner edge of the host's mat *mukōgiri 向切, or in a corner arrangement *sumiro 隅炉. When the hearth is cut into a smaller sized mat *daime datami 台目畳, a wide board of straight grain cedar *mukō-ita 向板, the width of the mat, is placed between the end of the mat, the wall, or another mat. Even in this case, a small, narrow ko-ita, 5.4 cm wide is inserted between the wide board and the edge of the hearth. Example: Masudoko-no-seki 枡床席 in Daitokuji Jukōin 大徳寺聚光院, Kyoto.

2　A board, often lacquered, placed under a portable stove *furo 風炉. If the stove is made of iron, it is placed on a paving tile *shikigawara 敷瓦 of Oribe 織部 pottery, Bizen 備前 pottery, or porcelain jiki 磁器. The standard size is 30 cm square and 3 cm thick.