Also read gangyō, gayō, nokigeta 軒桁, or *dashigeta…

Also read gangyōbane. A single heavy beam attached at right angles to the eave purlins *…

Lit. outer garden. The area outside the sacred enclosure of a shrine, mausoleum, or temple. Typically, the approach to the…

1　The wooden rails and stiles around doors or windows. 
2　Casing, trim, or…

Lit. zig-zag ladder. A kind of ladder, hashigo 梯子(see *kaidan 階段),…

The arrangement of buildings within the precinct of a Buddhist temple constructed between the late 7th century to 12th…

An abbreviated form of sōgya ranma 僧伽欄摩 (Sk: samgha arama). Lit. A garden for monks. Also rendered as sōen…

1　The triangular frame created by joining a pair of cruck-like members *…

Also pronounced kawageta. 
1 Exterior wall purlins. Long horizontal beams *…

Also read sokuheki or kawakabe. The exterior wall of a building. An outside wall or end wall.

1　In shrine architecture, the main hall *honden 本殿 is divided…

Lit. lower space. It is a room adjoining the main rooms of the priests' quarters in a Zen temple. It is located near the…

1　The entrance gallery or porch used in the guest hall *kyakuden…

Lit. Genroku culture. The middle Edo period *Edo jidai 江戸時代 chūki 中期…

Also pronounced gibōshi, giboju, gibōshu, goboshu. A decoration in the shape of the…

Also kuregaku 呉楽. Now-lost ancient masked theatrical performances given at temples from the 7th to 9th century.…

Also called *ura-ita 裏板. The panel used to fill the space made by the…

The wooden ribs or coffers laid in a criss-cross pattern to form a coffered ceiling *gō…

Lit. a five cornered measuring box. A method used to determine the proportions of a bracket arm *…

The space created by the coffers or ribs *gōbuchi 格縁 of a coffered or latticed…

Type of a chamfers cut on a square timber or square post with a ratio of 1/20 is called gorinmen along each corner…

Also called gosho oni-ita 御所鬼板 or goshomune oni-ita 御所棟鬼板. Lit. the ridge of an imperial palace. The main…

A coffered ceiling. A ceiling with ribs framing recessed panels.

1　The simplest type of coffered…

Also read gomotsu. The emperor's property. The Imperial Collection of art objects, books, etc., which are either of…

Tuff or tufa. Popularly called shōkōseki 松香石. A porous stone composed of volcanic ash or from the material loosened…

1　An early term for long boards used on roofs. Records dating from the 8th century first used the terms…

Lit. "flowing."

1　The flow of the roof line from the ridge *…

The long side of a timber, or a timber placed in a lengthwise direction.

Longhouse, or row house. A house with a long ridge. Also indicates a house with a number of residences connected under a…

A transverse beam *hari 梁 made in two sections and coupled by a stub-tenon-…

Non-penetrating tie beams that are made to fit around pillars *hashira 柱 of…

A long rectangular beam cut along a diagonal cross-section and used as a non-penetrating tie *nageshi…

A sudden strong, upward curve at the corner ends of eaves. Especially characteristic of the Zen style *…

1　An interior wall partition.

2　The inner surface of a wall.

The inner sanctum located in the main halls *kondō 金堂 or *…

Also called moyabashira 母屋柱; irikawabashira入側柱. The pillars placed on the boundary between, or slightly…

1　A semi-formal entrance to Honmaru Goten 本丸御殿, the main palace in Edo-jō 江戸城. It was situated at the east…

1　A generic term for a door connecting two areas of a structure.

2　A door in the…

A rain gutter placed at the bottom point where two roofs meet. Similar to *narabidō 双堂…

Also called nakazan 中桟. A middle rail. A horizontal rail or rails inserted into stiles tategamachi 竪框 and…

A vertical, finishing strip of wood placed between the threshold *shikii 敷居 and…

1　A private service-oriented room in the mansions of aristocrats, warriors, retired emperors, abbots and…

Also called sakuko 柵子, kakusaku 角柵, marutazaku 丸太柵. The stakes used to support the fencing set in…

Also called chūgomi 中込, nakazuke or chūzuke 中付. A middle layer of plaster applied between the…

An architectural element that is bent or has a concave mid-point. A diagonal brace, for example, if less than 90 cm wide,…

Also read chūjikii. Lit. "middle sill." A sill on a shelf that divides a closet into two parts, lower and upper.…

Also called nakashōji 中障子, yoshiwara shōji 吉原障子, takeshōji 竹障子, nakanukido 中抜戸 and …

Also written 中縦桟. A vertical stile placed at the mid-point of a paneled door. A centrally placed horizontal stile is called…

Also written 中壷. The inner court between shop and living quarters in a merchant's house in the Edo period.

Also written 中具. Secondary or intermediate supports placed in the interstices between the bracket complexes *…

A generic term for struts *tsuka 束 that are set at the mid-point between two…

Also namirenji 波連子, yumirenji 弓連子, tatewaki renji 立涌連子. A type of latticework renji…

Western painting brought by the Portuguese and Spanish who arrived in Japan in the 16th century, nanban bijutsu…

Lit. "Southern barbarian art." Considered to be the first manifestation of direct Western influence on Japanese culture,…

The Southern and Northern Court period (1336-92). It takes its name from two separate antagonistic Imperial courts supported…

1　A store room in which clothes and valuables could be kept in the houses of the civil, ecclesiastical and…

The Nara period (645-794). In 645 a coup to restore Imperial authority was carried out by Prince Naka no Ōe 中大兄 (later,…

Also sudare shōji 簾障子. Sliding screens *shōji 障子, that are…

Also called nawakakesan or nawakakezan 縄掛桟, also pronounced nawakakezan. Lit. "rope-hanging beam…

Also called medake 女竹; ganchiku 含竹, shinobedake しのべ竹 or naedake 苗竹. Thin bamboo…

Lit. "root stone."

1　Also soko-ishi 底石 (base stone), chizen-ishi 地全石, dodai-…

A floor joist. A horizontal structural member made of cypress, cedar or pine, laid on a sleeper *…

A ceiling made over the first floor of a two story building. The ceiling has joists above it which form the structural base…

Horizontal supports which receive floor joists. Also called *ōbiki 大引.

Also called *manekihijiki 招肘木. A small bracket arm, a…

Lit. "root fetters." Also called umekasenuki 埋械貫, nekasenuki 根械貫, negaraminuki 根がらみ貫. Large flat…

Also *magoshōji 孫障子. A small sliding panel set within a standard…

Also nekoza 猫座; nekogi 猫木. A short piece of wood projecting from the upper part of a pillar or from the…

Also nezutsumi 根包. A wrap made of spaced wooden slats bound together with rope or metal strips, ornamented metal…

Era name. The practice of naming eras originated in China when the first era name, Jian wu (Jp: Kengen 建元), was given to the…

Also jibutsu 持仏 and uchibotoke 内仏. A Buddhist image which is kept at close proximity for personal daily…

The date of production of a work of art. Nenki are often accompanied by the signature of the artist shomei…

A mud fence (a type of earthen wall *dobei 土塀) constructed with…

Also nezubashiri, tokami 椙. Also called jiku-ukemagusa 軸受まぐさ. A horizontal timber with a…

A flat wooden device placed between the top of a post and under the timber flooring of a log storehouse *…

1　The audience's entrance at a theater or place of entertainment during the Muromachi period. Even when the…

Also nisei kidan 二成基壇. A stepped podium with two layers. The upper layer is called *…

A double-layered non-penetrating tie beam with the upper layer often as thick as the lower one. These are found as base tie…

Also called kakemonokugi 掛物釘. A type of hooked nail *orekugi 折釘. A…

Two-tiered transverse beams with struts between them to form part of a roof framework. The upper transverse beam is about…

A framework used especially in temples and shrines to sustain the roof. It is composed of double rainbow beams *…

A roof framework in which only smaller bearing blocks *makito 巻斗 are placed on…

A transverse tie beam positioned between the ceiling of the first storied and the floor of the second storied of a building…

1　A defined open space, as distinct from the natural landscape, and reserved for work of an agricultural…

Also *ara-ishi 荒石. An unprocessed stone, a rough stone, an unrefined…

An unplanned, unfinished rough timber. Generally the timbers are split with a wedge and not processed any further.

1　A prefix attached to the name of a structural member to indicate that the member is not visible.…

1　In a general sense nobe means the entire length of any timber used in construction.

…

Also nobeto 延べ斗. A rectangular bearing block that is wider than usual and supports a corner bracket arm *…

Lit. "ascendance; to go up; rise."

1　A sloping line or surface and the measurements of these surface…

The sleeve or curb stones that slant along each side of the stone steps leading up to a podium *…

Lit. "rising beam," "raking beam."

1　Also *noboriki 登木 or…

Gable coping or raking coping. Coping, a protective covering, provided on sloping areas or edges such as on a gable roof *…

Also pronounced noborigi. Also called *noboribari 登梁.

1　…

Also called sobanoki 傍軒. Also called raking beams. The inclined eaves along the edge of the bargeboards *…

Also called keisha uragō 傾斜裏甲, or raking eaves filler. Hidden eave fillers attached to a bargeboard *…

A Noh stage. A stage originally constructed for outdoor performances of *Noh 能, a…

Hidden rafters. Rafters used to construct the roof framework of the main roof of a Japanese building. Hidden rafters have a…

Beams used in a hidden roof framework *noyane 野屋根. Also refers to any beam which is…