shihōzashi 四方差

Keywords
Architecture
General Terms

Various joinery techniques used to insert beams, bracket arms *sashihijiki 挿肘木 or upper story floor joists *neda 根太 into the four sides of a pillar. The top and bottom of a pillar are hollowed out leaving slender corners to connect the remaining solid part. These hollowed out sections are called andon 行灯. Angle and splicing joints fill the inside in crisscross fashion. Long rod tennons *saoshachitsugi 竿車知継 are used. Structurally, the pillar is weak. An example of bracket arms inserted directly into the four sides of the daibutsu style pillars *daibutsuyō 大仏様 is found at Jōdoji *Jōdodō 浄土寺浄土堂 (1192), in Hyōgo Prefecture. The four horizontal beams are not as wide as the pillar. Thus, abbreviated gooseneck joints *ryakukama 略鎌 are cross-lapped within the pillar. Sanbōzashi 三方差 is the name for a pillar with beams inserted on only three sides.