Lit. snake belly board. The boards lined up under the thick eave ends nokizuke 軒付 of a cypress bark *…

Lit. snake's belly.

1　A cornice. Called nokijabara 軒蛇腹, at the eaves of a building and …

Also called honshirin 本支輪 (main shirin). A short, curved, non-supporting transitional member that connects…

Lit. snake belly ceiling. An open or exposed ceiling composed of curved, parallel rafters, thought to resemble a snake's…

Lit. snake skin. The boards lined up under the thick eave ends nokizuke 軒付 of a cypress bark *…

Gravel, small stones, or pebbles. A corrupted form of sazare 細 meaning tiny stones. Jari have been given…

The traditional method of laying or setting tiles on the sheathing *noji 野地 of…

A small cabinet with sliding doors at the bottom of open, often split-level shelves *…

Also called *butsuma 仏間.

1　Small, private buildings or…

Also called chinjisai 鎮地祭; jisai 地祭, jiiwai 地祝, tsuchimatsuri 土祭 or tokoshizume no…

Also called omodaruki 母垂木. A base rafter that extends outward from the roof framework, generally the eave purlin *…

Also read chien hikaku. Double eaves *futanoki 二軒, composed of base…

1　A sleeper. The lowermost horizontal beam that spans the width of a bay *…

Also written 地幅石. A long horizontal base stone, sometimes called a sleeper, or a continuous plinth course. It is placed at…

Lit. hell tenon. So named because once it is inserted, it is impossible to withdraw. A blind tenon joint with wedges *…

Also 地形 chikei. The preliminary foundation work on a building. Materials for this include: rubble *…

Also read jikaro.

1　A hearth *ro 炉 excavated in…

Also called saidō 斎堂. A refectory. An independent building on temple grounds where priests and monks had their…

1　A roller used for a hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物 or hand…

Also 軸孔; jikuzuriana 軸吊穴; jiku uke 軸受; tobira jikuana 扉軸穴. The socket into which the pivot hinge…

The framework or body of a building between the foundation and the roof structure. In traditional architecture it includes…

Also jikukugi 軸釘, kakemonokugi 掛物釘. A hook for hanging scrolls, *…

Also written 軸釣, 軸摺. Pivot hinge. A metal covered wooden-core pivot inserted into a socket *…

A base ridge.

1　A longitudinal timber plate resting upon the principal transverse roof beams *…

Also jinaichō. A type of religious township that developed in the Sengoku period in connection mainly with temples…

Also called jingoji 神護寺, jingū'in 神宮院, jinganji 神願寺, miyadera 宮寺, or bettōji…

Lit. shrine architecture. The architecture associated with Shinto shrines, including all the shrine buildings, shaden…

A generic name for a Shinto shrine. Before World War Two shrines were classified into five categorize: first rank, …

Lit. camp fortress. A temporary fortification constructed on a battlefield or stopping-place by armies on the march, used…

Also called shimonuki 下貫. A penetrating tie beam at the base of a pillar or a tie beam beneath a building's…

Also *ro 炉

1　A hearth constructed in an earth…

The office or guardroom provided in each city ward *machi 町, in the city of Edo…

A base hip rafter found at the corners of a roof. Ordinary rafters *jidaruki…

A pothook. A device that enables a pot nabe 鍋 or tea kettle tetsubin 鉄瓶 to be suspended over a sunken…

A latticed door made with both horizontal and vertical laths at the same surface level. There are no recessed laths nailed…

A temple hall where the Buddhist deity *Jizō 地蔵 (Sk. Ksitigarbha) is…

Also written 帖.

1　A counter for screens *byōbu 屏風 and…

A unit of linear measure that equals 3.03 meters or about 10 feet. Equivalent to 10 shaku 尺. Although the metric…

A dais or a part of the floor in aristocratic dwellings of the *shoin 書院 style,…

Lit. three Pure Land Mandalas. Traditionally refers to the three most famous types of *…

Lit. Pure Land garden. Large pond gardens at Pure Land Buddhist temples which recreate the palatial garden of *…

Lit. Pure Land Hall. The main hall of the Shingon 真言 sect temple of Jōdoji 浄土寺 in Hyōgo Prefecture, dedicated to *…

The Jōgan gishiki is a ten volume collection of ceremony regulations compiled by Fujiwara Ujimune 藤原氏宗 by order of…

Lit. upper-lower, two-step style garden. A modern term designating a common type of bipartite garden featuring a small pond…

A gauge used to confirm the straightness of structural members. A structural member is placed between the two boards of the…

Also called jōgomune 漏斗棟. A roof-style found on vernacular houses *minka…

Also called jōgyō sanmaidō 常行三昧堂. A hall where a devotee walks around a statue of the *…

Also written 常居.

1　A principal everyday living room in traditional vernacular houses *…

A relatively small space elevated one step higher than the *jōdan 上段,…

Lit. town below the castle. A castle town. A town's fortress was located as a rule in a mountain, while the accompanying…

Also read Shōmeimon, called *Kōmon 閤門. A large, single-storied gate…

A lantern with a canopy and a square fire holder higuchi 火口 supported below the middle base by a single natural…

Also 如鱗木, gyorinmoku 魚鱗木. Lit. curly wood-grain.
A beautiful, natural, wood grain, mokuri 木理, found on…

1　A fence around a castle. See *saku 柵.

…

The upper level of a two-stepped podium *nijū kidan 二重基壇. The lower level is…

Special finishing plane. A smoothing plane used in the final stages of wood preparation to get a glossy surface on timber,…

Lit. upper house. Principal part of farmhouse structure. The central portion of the cross-section of the structural frame in…

Principal transverse beam. The beam that receives the diagonal braces at the end of a gable roof. It also supports the ridge…

1　The posts which support the ends of the principal transverse beams *…

The purlins or plates *keta 桁, supported on the main frame posts *…

Lit. upper seat alcove. Also read kamizadoko. An alcove *tokonoma…

A story or level of a building, used especially in reference to a pagoda. For example, a *…

A roof tile style with a lotus pattern with double layered petals. The additional petals are placed between the leaf sprout…

A layered petal motif with one or more petals superimposed one on top of another. It is found on some pendants *…

The earliest (6th-12th century) Buddhist living quarters for priests' and monks. Arranged outside the sacred area containing…

Also called kasanehozo 重ねほぞ; also ryōhozo 両ほぞ. Lit. a stacked tenon. A tenon with a 2-stepped broad…

A unique, ten-story stone pagoda *sekitō 石塔 at Injōji 引接寺(1386) in Kyoto.…

A pattern composed of concentric circles on a pendant *gatō 瓦当 and parallel…

Also read shukōgata tōrō. Also written shikōgata 四光形. A type of lantern with a gently rounded canopy…

A pattern of parallel lines decorating the pendant *gatō 瓦当 of a broad,…

Lit. regular side arrow.

1　An arrow, gun or cannon attack from inside a castle on the left side of…

A thirteen-storied pagoda. The only wooden thirteen-storied pagoda extant is located at Danzan Jinja 談山神社 (1532) in Nara.…

Lit. a gate of more than one story. Jūsōmon is a gate with a large roof over the entire structure. A balcony,…

The decorative pattern of a ten-petalled flower which is used on roof tiles, particularly on round eaves tiles *…

A plank door filled with widely set, horizontal laths, kozan 小桟.

Also abarawari あばら割. Lit. "sparsely proportioned." The same meaning as ma-mabara 間疎 (sparse or scanty).…

1　Posts or pillars of the same or smaller diameter than the main pillars of a building.

2…

Translucent sliding screens *shōji 障子, opaque screens *…

Lit. "waiting stone." One of the seven trump stones *nanatsu-ishi 七つ石 in…

Also pronounced chō.

1　The raised paths that divided and defined sunken paddies in ancient…

Also machiaishitsu 待合室.

1　A waiting and resting shelter. Typically a rustic structure…

Also pronounced chōnami.

1　Streetscape in an urban area. The linear space defined by the…

1　Also written 町屋. One of the two main categories of vernacular house *minka…

Window. Many other characters for window used have been used since the 6th century. For example: 窗 and 牒, 向 and 間戸 or 間門.…

A window sill. The horizontal part at the bottom of a window frame in a wooden building. The sill is supported by the base…

The window frame into which a window sash is installed. The timber that surrounds a window.

Lit. "window decoration." A thin decoration that is hung around the outer border of a window, over the curtain, to provide…

The non-penetrating tie beams used for the frame of a window opening. One, called madoshita nageshi 窓下長押, is placed…

A floor plan. The arrangement of rooms in a dwelling, including access points, windows, hallways, verandas, toilets, and…

Posts placed on each side of a window. In the case of thatched tea ceremony houses *…

A window frame into which a window sash or casing is set. The frame consists of two vertical side pieces, tatewaku…

1　Also called kazari-ishi 飾石, tōage-ishi 灯あげ石, tōtomoshi-ishi 灯ともし石. A flat…

The front gable of a gable roof that flows directly away from the ridge and extends further than the rear gable. The long…

A large ripsaw with a blade about 60 cm long and 40 cm wide. It was first introduced in the 15th century and was used until…

Standard purpose carpenters' ripsaw. A ripsaw with a blade approximately 35-40 cm long and 12 cm wide. The blade narrows…

A transverse timber positioned at the base of the latticework *kitsune gōshi…

Also bafumi, hirami 褶. The flat top of an earthen embankment *doi…

Latticework or a grille *kōshi 格子 positioned between the hard-packed earthen…

Lit. "a true carpenter's square." A right angle or a 90 degree angle. A structural element that corresponds to a right angle…