tamagaki 玉垣

The generic term for a fence surrounding the square or rectangular space containing the main sanctuary *shōden 正殿 of a Shinto shrine or Imperial Palace. Although the fence may sometimes be made of stone, wood fences are the most common. 

The various kinds of timber employed and the different ways of arranging the fence-boards have given the fences descriptive names. For example an unpeeled or unstripped timber fence is called kuroki-no-tamagaki 黒木の玉垣; a roughly finished board fence is itatamagaki 板玉垣; a squared timber fence is kakutamagaki 角玉垣; a vermilion fence is shutamagaki 朱玉垣; a squared lattice fence *kakugōshi tamagaki 角格子玉垣; a fence made of vertically set thin strips of bamboo or wood is called *tatehigo tamagaki 竪籤玉垣; and a diagonally placed lattice fence is called sujikaigōshi tamagaki 筋違格子玉垣. 

In the ancient and medieval eras roofing was not added to the fence, but from the premodern period onward, the fence became more elaborate, and often included a roof, grilles installed between posts and wainscots. One such example is the fence of the Worship Hall, haiden 拝殿, at Nikkō Tōshōgū 日光東照宮, Tochigi Prefecture. At Ise Jingū 伊勢神宮, Mie Prefecture, the sacred precinct of the inner sanctuary, Naikū 内宮, is enclosed by four fences. From the outermost inward, they are itagaki 板垣, sototamagaki 外玉垣, uchitamagaki 内玉垣 and *mizugaki 瑞垣. If the mizugaki is a barrier of trees surrounding a natural area within which a deity dwells, it may also be written 籬垣 or 水垣.