sekishōmon 石牆門

Also written 石墻門. Lit. "stone wall gate." A gate with either single or triple arch-like openings in a wall made of stacked stone. Some of these gates originally had timber roofs with undulating bargeboards added on the gable ends, hirakarahafu 平唐破風. One example is the stone gate called Sonohyan-utaki Ishimon 園比屋武御嶽石門 (1519) in Okinawa Prefecture. An onion-shaped ornament *hōjū 宝珠, was placed on the center of the built-up ridge *munagi 棟木, and fish-tail-like ornaments *shachi 鯱, were set at the ends of the ridge. The roof was made of stone, too. The roof stones were piled up to form a low arch which was completely covered with white plaster. This gate was destroyed during World War 2. Only the three stone arches remain.