Keywords
Architecture
Shrines
A long thick horizontal board placed at the apex of a roof as a cover to protect the uppermost ridge. The board is used especially when the roofing material is thatch *kayabuki 茅葺 and finely layered shingles *kokerabuki 柿葺. On shrines, particularly those of *shinmei-zukuri 神明造, the billets *katsuogi 堅魚木, are supported by kō-ita. In this case, the kō-ita is pentagonal in section. An old name for kō-ita is irakaōi 甍覆, also called uwamune 上棟.