Also called *suriage shōji 摺上障子. A sliding door frame covered with…

Also kurekugi 呉釘, kirikugi 切釘. A straight nail with both ends pointed. It is made of wood, bamboo, iron,…

Also called oreaikugi 折合釘 or mageorekugi 曲折釘. A type of double-pointed iron nail, square in section, and…

One type of *shōji 障子. A translucent screen or sliding door made by pasting…

Also written 空; kūgeki 空隙, ma 間. Lit. empty, gap, space. The space between two structural parts. For…

Evidence left on load bearing members by beams *hari 梁, *…

1　Wooden shutters constructed at the various openings of a building. They slide out from a special storage…

A gutter used to carry rainwater from the eave-ends to a downspout or hanging chain and thence to the ground. This method…

Also read mabaragumi; also written 阿麻組 amagumi. A bracket complex *…

Weather stripping, flashing, a rain guard, or any device used to prevent leaks or deflect rainwater. A hōju roban…

A curbstone that runs horizontally along the top edge of a podium *danjōzumi…

Also called amadari 雨垂り and amadareochi 雨垂れ落ち. The place on the ground, directly below the eaves,…

Also called aburashōji 油障子. A type of translucent paper-covered window found most often in tea ceremony houses *…

An ancient word for *ashiba 足場 or ashishiro 足代, scaffolding made of…

Lit. curved bargeboard. An archaic term for *chidori haru 千鳥破風, a…

Also read afuri-ita; irakaōi 甍覆.

1　A thick board attached to the edge of a veranda…

Lit. rough stone. A generic term for rough, unprocessed rock in the form in which it is found or quarried. Also read *…

Lit. rough fence. A general term to designate any kind of crude fence with widely spaced posts and crossbars. It is also…

The first layer of mud plaster applied to the lath *komai 小舞, that…

1　A narrow horizontal strip of wall between a long, light, binding beam *…

Lit. leg or foot. Also 脚, read ashi or kyaku.

1　The parts that support the main…

Also simply called *ashiage 足揚. A type of thatched storehouse set upon a…

Scaffold or scaffolding. A temporary, elevated structure used to support workmen, tools, etc. when erecting a building.…

Also written 脚固, 足堅. Strong, horizontal ties which strengthen the posts beneath the floor of a timber building by…

1　A general term for all structural members from the foundation *dodai…

Lit. split reed. A style of round-stone paving *tama-ishijiki 玉石敷 of the…

The Asuka period (538/552-645). So called because the capital of the new Yamato 大和 region was located in the Asuka district…

A type of rectangular pillar employed in the construction of a gate at a castle or dwelling. This pillar, front to back, is…

The capacity to be moved deeply, an aesthetic ideal associated with Heian period literature and aristocratic values. An…

Also pronounced azeki. Chamfered logs used to build walls for storehouses *…

Also pronounced uttegaeshi 打って返し, utasegaeshi 打たせ返し. Perfect symmetry on both sides of a center line…

Pillars *hashira 柱 with an inward incline. Uchikorobi…

Rafters *taruki 垂木 that extend from the flying rafter support *…

A penetrating tie beam *nuki 貫 placed directly on top of a door or…

Also called uchinorimono 内法物. The wooden materials used for the framework of a sliding screen *…

1　A relatively short horizontal timber that functions like a brace. It is attached to and extends outward…

Lit. "nightingale floor." Floor boards which rub together when walked on to produce a pleasant and delicate sound. This type…

A generic term for all supporting or receiving structural members. For example, a timber that receives an eave cornice is…

Also read umeki. A wooden dowel or plug used to fill a hole in a piece of timber. If a knot or some other flaw…

To fill in any remaining open spaces with sand, gravel, soil, or other such substances, after the foundation and all…

A generic term for backing boards, which are boards nailed over rafters to form a backing for the roofing. In an open roof…

Also called uragaeshi 裏返 or yobinuri 呼塗. Soft, rough plaster arakabe tsuchi 荒壁土 applied to…

Also urappo 裏穂. A thatching material used on vernacular dwellings *minka…

Visible eaves filler placed the eave support *kayaoi 茅負, and projected slightly…

Also read uragomi. The process of filling the gaps in the rear of a stone retaining wall or stone fence with rubble…

A plaster wall which has mud plaster applied to the front side and then to the rear side before the plaster on the front…

Also called marutagaki 丸太垣. A fence constructed with logs positioned at fairly close intervals and three horizontal…

A crosspiece used to secure the back or upper side of a ceiling board.

Bricks or stones set at the back of a brick or stone wall to give it extra support. The term is an abbreviation of …

1　A particularly large beam that runs in a longitudinal direction, ketayuki hōkō 桁行方向 (see *…

The rear stage between dressing rooms and the rear door of the main stage in a *kabuki…

Lit. "thin sills." A lintel and sill used under and above transom *ranma 欄間.…

Also written 空柱. Lit. "hollow pillar." A box-like down-spout tatedoi 竪樋 used to carry rainwater from roof gutters…

Also called tenba 天端.

1　The top surface of an object, or the peak of a structural member.…

Also written 上貼, also called visible top layer keshōbari 化粧張, front side hyōmenbari 表面張 or finishing…

The upper-most eave of a nokizuke 軒付 or nokiba 軒端 eave end. Each part of the eave has a name. The…

1　Also shiagenuri 仕上げ塗. The final layer applied to a decorative painting sōshoku kōji…

The top or finishing coat of a mud plaster wall, tsuchimonokabe 土物壁 or ōtsukabe 大津壁.

Also called tori-no-shita 鳥の舌 (lit. "bird's tongue"). A somewhat triangular piece of wood added to a bracket arm *…

A board with a carved spiral-like uzusen 渦線 linear design. It is found on frog-leg struts *…