manjūgata 饅頭形

Lit. "a bean-jam dumpling shape." Also called hanjukei 半珠形. A half-spherical shape.

1　Manjū 饅頭 is a prefix added to a variety of architectural elements with a rounded, or half-spherical shape. Such terms include: manjū kanamono 饅頭金物, a metal fixture, such as a boss in this shape, covering a nail; a dome-shaped, hooked nailhead sometimes called *chichikanamono 乳金物; the nailheads of hooked nails covered over with white plaster in storehouses have this shape but are also called tsubu 粒 or kugitsubu 釘粒, meaning a nailhead that looks like a grain of rice.

2　Manjū or manjūgata are terms used for the tortoise belly-shaped mound *kamebara 亀腹 under the wooden sub-structure of a temple building. It also refers to the shape of a base stone beneath the pillars of some Shinto gates *torii 鳥居. These base stones are also called kamebara.