sodekiri 袖切

The process by which the diameter of the ends of large rainbow beams *kōryō 虹梁 were reduced in order to fit into pillars which were sometimes smaller in diameter than the rainbow beams themselves. The ends of the beams were narrowed by rounding them off and the surfaces were left undecorated. From the latter part of the 13th century onward, with the introduction of the Zen style *zenshūyō 禅宗様 and daibutsu style *daibutsuyō 大仏様, the ends of the rainbow beams were cut diagonally from the sides to form a triangular shape called sodekirimayu 袖切眉. The upper, long side of the triangular shape was decorated with a bow-like incised line called *yumimayu 弓眉 and by an incised scroll shape.