takahei 高塀

Also pronounced takahe. The gable walls of the central thatched portion kirizuma 切妻 of the roof *kirizuma yane 切妻屋根 of farmhouses built in the style known as *takahe-zukuri 高塀造, a type particularly common in the plains of Yamato 大和 and Kawachi 河内 (now Nara and Osaka). The takahei are plastered wing walls *sodekabe 袖壁, and may initially have been conceived as firebreaks. They are provided with a tiled coping of *hongawarabuki 本瓦葺 and may stand above the thatch. Some examples, however, are level with the plane of the thatch, or even slightly recessed, in which case they are referred to as hizume takahei ひずめ高塀.