A bamboo nail. Usually the nail is 7.5 mm square and made from giant bamboo madake 真竹 (also nigatake 苦竹). They have a hook on which to hang scrolls and are used in a small room or alcove *tokonoma 床の間. When pounded into a wall, the nail projects 27 mm with the exterior skin on the upper side. Kobori Enshū 小堀遠州 (1579-1647) and Kanamori Sōwa 金森宗和 (1584-1656) preferred nailing takekugi into a wall with the exterior skin on the underside. Hooked bamboo nails were used in a tea ceremony house *chashitsu 茶室 kitchens *mizuya 水屋, for hanging up towels used to wipe tea implements. Bamboo nails made from a smaller variety of bamboo that has a smooth surface with non-protruding joints are used by cabinet makers. Once shaped as nails, they are roasted in an iron pot, and therefore have a brownish color.