Lit. "willow shelf." An asymmetrical arrangement of three decorative shelves tokowakidana 床脇棚 arranged in the recess *tokowaki 床脇 next to the decorative alcove *tokonoma 床の間. The willow shelves are arranged in three levels by first suspending a strut from the underside of the ceiling cupboards *fukurodana 袋棚. This strut hangs down from the right side of the cupboard and is matched by a slightly longer strut which rises from the left side of the recess floor. A shelf is attached to the bottom of the suspended strut. Slightly in from the end of this shelf is a curvilinear form resembling a snail *ebizuka 海老束, which is in turn connected to a central, slightly higher shelf attached to the left-hand rising strut. Finally, another short shelf runs from the left wall to the floor strut.
This shelf arrangement was first mentioned in 1658 in a book called Shinpen sanhinagata 新編三雛形 (New Third Edition of a Pattern Book) and indicates that the yanagidana dates to a very early period. A similar arrangement of three shelves that does not have suspended struts is called chidoridana 千鳥棚.