Also *haiden 拝殿. A worship hall for Shinto shrine visitors. The plan…

Also called raihaidō 礼拝堂. A worship hall. When Buddhist temples were constructed during the 7th-8th century,…

Also called raigō-heki. A clay or wooden wall erected behind a Buddhist altar *…

Two or four-circular pillars right and left at each corner of the Buddhist altar to define the most sacred place in a temple…

Lattice arranged in a fret pattern, used especially on railings of balconies.

Lit. "lightning pattern." Also read ikazuchimon いかずち文. A pattern of thick and thin zig-zag lines. A variation of *…

A transom. A rectangular opening, longer in the horizontal direction, constructed between the lintels *…

Also called no-ishizumi 野石積. Stones with an irregular shape. Those that are somewhat square are called nozura-…

Also referred to as ranzumi kidan 乱積基壇, ranzō ransekizumi 乱層乱石積, kuzure ishizumi くずれ石積 or simply…

Also *ranzumi 乱積. Piling up unhewn rocks or random masonry. The earliest and…

A stone pagoda with an egg-shaped main body placed directly on a base. It differs from the *…

Lit. "random joints." Various types of architectural joints that can be either dovetail *…

Also called *ransekizumi 乱石積, waraizumi 笑い積. Randomly piled natural stones *…

Also byōsho 廟所 or mitamaya 霊屋.
A mausoleum in which the spirit of the dead is enshrined. It may be…

Lit. "lotus petal."
1　A pendant *gatō 瓦当, found on semi-…

1　Rengeji type lantern. So named because a pair of these lanterns stand in front of the main building at…

Also written 蓮花門. Lit. "Lotus Flower Gate." A gate located in the west wall opposite main east gate, Tōdaimon 東大門 of…

Raised dots or bead-like forms that represent the seeds in a stylized lotus flower pattern decorating many pendant tiles *…

Also written 櫺子窓. Lit. "a row lath window."

1　A window with vertical or horizontal wooden laths or…

Also called renketsushiki tenshu 連結式天守. A castle in which the principle tower or keep *…

Lit. "connected towers." Also termed renritsushiki tenshu 連立式天守. An extensive, highly-developed castle complex…

Multiple windows. Two or more windows connected horizontally, or windows connected within one frame window with vertical…

Rensōmado means double windows. Two windows in line. Also called *meotomado…

Lit. "carp stone." A stone placed at the base of a waterfall to symbolize a carp swimming up the waterfall. Good examples…

Sen no Rikyū's 千利休 (1522-91) writings concerning measurements for tea ceremony utensils. Yamada Sōhen 山田宗へん (1627-1708)…

A fence made of bamboo stakes that alternate with unpeeled wooden stakes. The bamboo and unpeeled stakes have the same…

A type of lantern. Lanterns of various shapes may be called Rikyūgata. It is difficult to judge which are authentic…

Lit. "forest and stream."
The ancient word for garden. Rinsen first appeared in the 720 Nihon shoki…

Also called kaiten rinzō 回転輪蔵. Octagonal sutra storage shelves that revolve around a central pillar, which acts as…

Also kagi-datami 鍵畳. The straw mat *tatami 畳, into which…

A roofed corridor or passageway that connects one structure to another. It may also encompass an open area. There are…

A sunken hearth. A square box installed into the floor of a tea ceremony room to make a charcoal fire. The standard size…

A gate *rōmon 楼門, that appears to have two stories, but in reality is a high…

Commonly used abbreviation of shō roban 承露盤; also called masugata 枡形. Originally, an entire spire *…

The frame placed around the fire-box *rodan 炉壇, in a tea ceremony room *…

A wooden lid about 1.8 cm thick used to cover the fixed-hearth *rodan 炉壇 in a tea…

1　An unroofed platform, a dais, or a projected veranda or balcony.
2　A nobleman's…

A fire box. The fixed, box-like hearth providing a place for a bed of ashes on which charcoal is burned to heat a kettle of…

Lit. "dewy ground." Commonly known as a tea garden *chaniwa 茶庭,…

1　A hallwayor corridor within a building giving access to various rooms.
2　A passageway…

Also rokkakudō 六角堂. A hexagonal building of relatively small scale found at some temples. Like octagonal halls…

A type of three-storied, hexagonal pagoda made in relief on a copper plate in accordance with an explanation found in the…

Also riku. A synonym for suihei 水平 meaning level.
1　Level building timbers.
…

Also called rokkaku yane 六角屋根. A six-sided roof that covers an hexagonal building *…

Lit. "six leaves." A decoration pattern carved into the shape of six petals, and used on a gable pendant *…

Also called hashirō 橋廊. A covered bridge, often with a resting place at the central point. Rōkyō can…

A high gate that is often referred to as a two-storied gate, but in fact does not have two stories. Generally, it is an…

Also called koshikake daruki 腰掛垂木, ranji daruki 鸞翅垂木, or tenbō daruki 天望垂木.
A flying rafter…

Lit. "lapis lazuli tile." A tile to which a blue glaze ruriyū 瑠璃釉 has been applied. The glaze is made from…

Lit. "abbreviated gooseneck joint." An elongated halving joint. The desired length of timber is cut in half lengthwise. The…

A type of bamboo fence used at Ryōanji 龍安寺, a Zen temple in Kyoto. It is characterized by thick split bamboo that cross…

A double-edged utility saw. A widely used saw which has rip-saw teeth on one side of the blade and crosscut teeth on the…

Also *kannonbiraki tobira 観音開扉, double doors that open in one…

Also called yotsuashi torii 四脚鳥居, gongen torii 権現鳥居 or chigobashira torii 稚児柱鳥居. A Shinto shrine…

Wedges used on the right and left sides to strengthen and to secure a penetrating tie beam inserted into a pillar.

Lit. "green-glazed roof tiles." A decorative green glaze is applied to the pendants *gatō…

Also ryōmegaki 両目垣. An interlocking bamboo fence. Bamboo, about 3 cm in diameter, are cut in half vertically and…

Also abbreviated to ryōnagare 両流. A style of main sanctuary *honden…

1　The part of the kitchen where the finishing stages of food preparation took place and where meals were…

A type of gable roof *kirizuma-zukuri 切妻造. Also called…

A gable roof *kirizuma-zukuri 切妻造, which has no gable…

A summer house, arbor or pavilion that provided a cool resting place in a garden.

Lit. "dragon pond style." A type of garden featuring a sharply curving pond reminiscent of a dragon's serpentine body. Good…

Lit. "dragon palace style." An uncommon double-storied gate. The lower story has a flat arched entrance whereby the same…

Lit. "dragon's gate cascade." One type of cascade *baku 瀑 found in Japanese…

Lit. "dragon vehicle." The round or oval section of a pagoda finial *sōrin…

Lit. "flowing water appreciation style garden."
A general term used to designate any garden focused around a stream.…

Lit. "flowing water style of pond and stream."
A type of water feature in a garden that includes a curving water course.…

Lit. "willow leaf shelf."
A single decorative shelf constructed a little below the cabinets, tenbukuro 天袋,…

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.

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 post." One that has been squared off.

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-…