Also written 蝦の腰 or 蝦腰. A type of decorative molding *kurigata 繰形, used on…

Also written 蝦虹梁.

An usually-shaped rainbow tie beam thought to resemble the back of a lobster or shrimp or an s-shape…

1　A structural post considered sacred in an Edo period vernacular house *…

A simple structure that was usually erected in the center of a market place to house the deity *…

Also written 蝦束; also hinazuka 雛束. 

A small strut with chamfered corners used between two staggered…

Also written 絵振板 or 恵振板.

A board cut in a decorative shape and attached at a right angle to the projecting end of a…

Also written 絵振台. Also called onigawaradai 鬼瓦台, *onidai 鬼台. 

Lit. branch strut. Also called hōzue 方杖; hasuzuka 斜束 or nanamezuka 斜め束. Diagonal braces used in…

Lit. branch charcoal. A type of charcoal which is both ornamental and easy to ignite, used in either a sunken hearth *…

An archaic term for tiles of low quality used in Edo (now Tokyo) during the Edo period to roof tenement houses *…

Lit. Edo black. A black plaster finish applied to the walls of fireproof mud-plastered storehouses *…

A standard unit of measurement used in Edo and various towns in the Kantō 関東 region. In constructing an ordinary…

Also jōyatō 常夜灯. 

A device to prevent the votive light in a lantern from going out.

Also written 腋門, or read *wakimon 脇門. 

A small gate…

Lit. picture horse hall. Also called emaden 絵馬殿; emadokoro 絵馬所 or gakuden 額殿 (frame hall),…

The domed lid of a tea ceremony kettle with an indentation or depressed area around the knob. Sometimes called a fuji…

The boards used to make the floor over a veranda framework. There are two common methods: kirime-en 切目縁 and …

Also written 椽長押; sometimes called *kirime nageshi 切目長押. A non-…

Ch: Yuanye. Lit. garden building. The only extant treatise on classical Chinese garden construction. Written by the…

1　Also *engawa 縁側. A veranda. Formerly, en and …

Also engawabashira 縁側柱. 

Posts or pillars usually set on the floor boards *…

Also written 苑池. Lit. garden pond. The large ponds in gardens of the Nara, Heian, and Kamakura periods. Specifically, the…

Lit. circular pillar seat. A rounded molding carved into the top of a base stone *soseki…

Lit. circular hall. Although the literal meaning of endō is round structure (see *…

A heavy horizontal member attached to the outside of the veranda framework over the veranda struts *…

Also called *gatō 瓦当. The circular pendant tiles attached to semi-circular…

Also wirtten 掾側. The area beside or surrounding the straw matted *tatami 畳…

Lit. full moon bridge. A semi-circular garden bridge that, when reflected in the water below, presents the circular…

The horizontal boards positioned across the front of a veranda on top of the struts *…

Lit. veranda ear board. The outermost board on the kure-en 榑縁 type of veranda which has long floor boards running…

A penetrating tie-beam that connects and strengthens the veranda struts *enzuka…

Lit. end of the veranda water basin. A type of tall, cylindrical wash basin *…

Lit. round star type. A variety of *ensaki chōzubachi 縁先手水鉢, end of…

Lit. Enshū gate. A type of projecting fence *sodegaki 袖垣 featuring upper…

One type of lantern. Generally six-sided with an elongated canopy *kasa 笠 and…

Also written 円相床; also marumadodoko 丸窓床. A circular window placed in the center of the rear wall of an alcove *…

Lit. circular window fence. A common type of projecting fence *sodegaki 袖垣…

Lit. circular window lattice sleeve fence. A type of narrow screen fence *sodegaki…

Lit. veranda corner rafter. Also called sumisasu 隅扠首. 

A brace placed under the outer corners of a…

Also written 椽繋. Short horizontal bearers that join the outer veranda posts *enzuka…

1　A matting made of straw, rushes, sedge, or cattails woven in a spiral pattern that was used for bedding,…

Lit. distant mountain stone. The stone in an arrangement placed above or behind artificial mountains *…

Also written entanbashira 縁短柱, also pronounced entsuka. Struts *tsuka…

Also called iriwa 入輪. Lit. a collar ring. A collar tenon. It has a step-like piece called a collar, cut on each…

Also called iriwadome 入輪留 or eridome 襟留. Lit. collar miter. An angle joint *…

Also read san. Lit. hanging branches. 

1　A sheathing made of boards and bamboo woven…

The holes made in roofing lath to allow rope to be passed through and tied, thus making the lath secure. An example can be…

Sometimes called *tarukidake 垂木竹: noboridake 昇竹 or sasudake…

Bracket arms *hijiki 肘木, that are decorated with *…

1　A Nara and Heian periods term used to refer to any kind of design, which included a sketch for a statue…

Also written 絵様刳形. Low relief carvings which use curved lines. The carvings are found, for example, on nosings *…

A low relief architectural decoration carved into beams *hari 梁, nosings…

1　One of the purlins used in a hidden roof *noyane …

A vertical timber that rises from a level or inclined surface. In modular measurement of timber *…

Lit. "standing water basin." A type of tall basin *chōzubachi 手水鉢 that can…

A loophole *sama 狭間 cut in a wall about chest high to a standing soldier.…

A 2-storied pagoda that developed from the circular, roofed one called *hōtō 宝塔…

Lit. "confronting castle." Also termed mukaijiro 向城 (facing castle) and *tsukejiro…

Also pronounced daibō. A large room 6.7 m wide and 12.7 m deep, constructed in a style customary from about the mid…

Also oigata 笈形, *gasshōhire 合掌鰭. A pair of decorative sculpted…

Lit. "large bottle strut." A strut that is used mainly in Zen style architecture *…

The trimming or hewing of the opposite sides of a log so that the surfaces become flat and parallel making it easier to join…

Also called taikobari 太鼓張, fukuroshōji 袋障子, bōzufusuma 坊主襖.
A type of paper-covered,…

Also called soribashi 反橋. An arched bridge made of stone or wood. One example is the Yoka Jinja 与賀神社 (1607) in Saga…

A door frame covered on both sides with boards or panels. The inside of the door, like a drum taiko 太鼓, is empty.…

Also called ōyashiro-zukuri. The oldest style of shrine architecture. Its small scale is thought to resemble that…

Lit. "large shaku 尺." An ancient unit of length. Introduced in the Taihōryō 大宝令 codes of 701, it measured 35.6 cm,…

A hall either dedicated to Shōtoku Taishi 聖徳太子 (ca. 574-622), the second son of Emperor Yōmei 用明 (r. 585-87), or a building…

Lit. "hawk's beak." A decorative, curved pattern often found on moldings. The pattern has pointed tips like a bird's beak.…

Also pronounced takahe. The gable walls of the central thatched portion kirizuma 切妻 of the roof *…

Also pronounced takahe-zukuri. Lit. "high wall construction." Also called *…

A hedge, 3 to 5 m high, planted as a wind screen or for fire control.

A pillar or post that is multi-sided or cut with many facets.

Lit. "bamboo post." One that has been squared off.

Also take-no-fushi 竹の節. Lit. "bamboo joint transom." A type of transom shaped like a balustrade which became…

Lit. "bamboo and horsetail tokusa 木賊 fence."

1　A fence that has split and crushed bamboo…

Lit. "bamboo fence." A generic name for any kind of fence made with bamboo. Specific types include *…

A bamboo nail. Usually the nail is 7.5 mm square and made from giant bamboo madake 真竹 (also nigatake 苦竹).…

Bamboo or bamboo muntins that are used for windows in dwellings where a suggestion of rusticity is needed, or in tea…

Paper-covered bamboo frames used as full-sized sliding doors *shōji 障子, or the…

Also written 竹柵. A roughly constructed bamboo fence with horizontal pieces placed close to the top, at the center, and at…

The stokehole or stokeholes in the side of a cooking range *kamado 竃. The…

Lit. "waterfall stone arrangement." A type of stone arrangement used for garden waterfalls. Also pronounced taki-…

A tool called a "punner" in English, used to pound down broken stones laid below the foundation of a building. It consists…

A set of decorative shelves used in an alcove. A single, high shelf with enclosed sliding doors is constructed slightly…

Lit. "round stone." A boulder about 15-30 cm across, which has been naturally rounded by a river or ocean waves. Often…

A type of paving using naturally rounded stones *tama-ishi 玉石, about 15-30 cm in diameter.…

Lit. "jewelled edge."

1　The tip on the rear, narrow end of a half-round roof tile *…

The generic term for a fence surrounding the square or rectangular space containing the main sanctuary *…

The Tamamushi no zushi owned by Hōryūji 法隆寺 (mid-7th century) is also called the Beetle-wing Shrine, because of the…

Also *tamen kōhi 多面広臂. A Buddhist image with more heads, eyes, or limbs than…

Also termed tamon-zukuri 多聞造, tamon'yagura 多聞櫓 (many listen tower) and tamon nagaya 多聞長屋 (many…

A solid, single beam made from one timber. The term is used to differentiate it from a composite beam called gōseibari…

Shelves.

1　 A type of shelf, sometimes with a rack, of which there are many ordinary household…

A simplified portable shelf *daisu 台子 set on the host's mat *…

Lit. "Tanba stone." A type of granite from the Kameoka 亀岡 region, northwest of Kyoto. High in iron, it is used for pavements…

A decorative motif used on the roof of a Japanese building. It consisted of a series of single petals with one leaf seedling…

A stylized lotus flower motif with eight petals. Although it is a relatively simple arrangement, unlike the *…

The valley or trough that forms when two sloping roofs meet.

1　A generic term for roof tiles used in the valley of a roof. Valleys are formed when the ridges of two…