Also called sansōdō or sasaidō 三匝堂. An hexagonal Buddhist hall constructed with two internal, circuitous…

Also written 脊. Lit. "back."

1　The convex side of a curved timber. The concave side is called the…

Also written 丈, 背. Lit. "depth or thickness." The distance between the underside and topside of timber, stones and…

Also seibyōmon 聖廟門. Lit. "Confucian schoolgate." A 1 x 1 bay, single-story gate with a gable roof *…

Also shifun 蚩吻. A decoration in the shape of a fictional animal found at each end of a main roof-ridge *…

1　Also pronounced seikaiha. A wave design made of the arches of concentric circles superimposed…

Square worship hall. A type of worship hall at a Shinto shrine. The 3 × 3 bay hall is believed to have been derived from a…

Also called Sōjōmon 僧正門. The middle gate in the semi-opened, west corridor at Kasuga Taisha Honsha 春日大社本社 in Nara.…

Also termed seirō yagura 井楼櫓. A watch tower. Seirō were built from the Muromachi to the early…

Also written 清楼棚 or 西楼棚, sometimes called seinikaidana 西二階棚. Staggered shelves *…

A type of *yakuimon 薬医門. A 1-bay, single-entrance gate with side gates *…

Also called *dotome-ita 土留板, maku-ita 幕板. Palings, poling…

Lit. "stone Buddha." A Buddhist image made in rock or stone. The term sekizō 石造 (carving from stone) was used…

Lit. "stone flag." A type of stone pagoda with a hexagonal or octagonal base, a banner-shaped shaft, dōshin 幢身, a…

A type of stone lantern, ishidōrō 石灯籠. Shaped like a Buddhist memorial *sekidō…

1　Also read ishimon. A gate made almost entirely of stone, seen especially in Okinawa Prefecture.…

Lit. "barrier-keeper stone." A stone placed atop a stepping stone *tobi-ishi…

Also written 石墻門. Lit. "stone wall gate." A gate with either single or triple arch-like openings in a wall made of stacked…

1　An Edo period school of tea ceremony founded by Katagiri Sekishū 片桐石州 (1605-73). Branch schools…

A tea ceremony encyclopedia based on the methods of Katagiri Sekishu 片桐石州 (1605-73), who is believed to have authored 300…

Also read ishitō. A generic term for pagodas or stupas made of stone. It includes multiple-storied stone pagodas…

Lit. "stone made gate."

1　Gates with arched entrances which are found in Okinawa Prefecture and…

Limestone. A type of rock rarely used in gardens because of its soft and transient nature, although it was employed as a…

The execution of a construction project.

Working scale drawings, including plans, elevations, and roof structure, etc. They are enlarged drawings that show various…

Also written 賎院. The quarters where the lowliest serfs lived in a Buddhist temple. In ancient Japan, these people were…

Also called komisen 込栓. A pin, peg, key, cotter or dowel made of hardwood, usually oak or zelkova. It varies in…

A style of architecture exemplified by the 2-storied worship hall *haiden 拝殿 at…

Lit. "line pattern." A design pattern found on a slanting strut *shirin 支輪,…

Lit. "glittering green stone." A type of stone similar to granite but containing black granules. Often containing small…

Lit. "spring water." Originally the term referred to spring water running through a garden. In Kyoto, a number of…

A festival held for a building that is to be dismantled and rebuilt, or undergo major repairs. Before construction begins,…

Also called seridashi 迫出, seriage 迫上. Lit. "trap" or "trap door." A platform on which actors or some types…

A Shinto shrine, second in rank and size to the main shrine honsha 本社, but having a status higher than the *…

Also setchū kenchiku 折衷建築. Architecture that became strongly influenced in the 14th-15th century by two new…

A method of preventing cracks in the heartwood *shinzai 心材 or jushin 樹心, of a…

An abbreviation of shachisen 車知栓. A draw pin, key or cotter made of hard wood, usually zelkova or oak. The pin is…

Also shachihoko 鯱, 鯱鉾. Lit. "killer whale." Fish-shaped ornaments at both ends of a roof-ridge. Thought to be…

A hall in which a statue of the historical Buddha *Shaka 釈迦, born in either the mid-6th or mid-…

Also shashike 社司家 or shakeshū 社家衆.

1　A hereditary line of Shinto priests of…

A township composed of *shake 社家, families who held posts (usually hereditary) as…

Lit. "borrowed scenery." The method of incorporating a distant vista into the composition of a garden. A river, the ocean,…

Lit. "gold bronze." Ornamental metal fittings *kazari kanagu …

Also shakujōbori 釈杖彫, yuengata 油煙形. A type of decorative carving *…

Dipper-shaped metal fixtures used to cover the extended cylindrical ends at the top and bottom of timber doors. After…

To notch, gouge out or scoop a section of a structural element. The term is used especially for grooves or channels into…

Lit. "dipper or ladle tenon." A flat tenon *hozo ほぞ that is attached to the end…

Volcanic tuff, or small volcanic detritus. Named for a valley, Shakutani 笏谷, in Fukui Prefecture, where it is found. It is…

Also hishakutate 柄杓立. A ladle stand or holder for the ladle or dipper, and charcoal tongs. Shakutate is…

A rod-like, rectangular piece of wood made of Japanese cedar sugi 杉, or Japanese cypress hinoki 桧, 1.8 to…

A group of administrative and sometimes commercial buildings at a Shinto shrine. In ancient times, each shrine was…

A square reliquary hall, used to enshrine the relics of Buddha, called *shari 舎利…

A stupa-shaped container for relics *shari 舎利 that may itself be set within a small shrine …

A subsidiary temple belonging to the main temple and serving as the founder's mausoleum. This arrangement is most frequently…

Also written 支. An ancient unit used to count long, slender objects. Remaining from this ancient system is the expression *…

1　Also known as goseden 五脊殿. A pyramidal *hōgyō-zukuri…

A special finishing plane. A plane used in the final stage of smoothing wood after the surface has been flattened with the…

The texture or color of the finish applied to the surface of any visible structural member in the interior of a building.…

A grass-covered earthen embankment *doi 土居. The embankment is shaped like a…

Also read shibakaki. A very old type of brushwood fencing, originally called fushigaki 布斯垣. Many…

Lit. "Sima Yungong type." One style of natural stone water basin *…

Also mizunuki 水貫. The penetrating beams that join and secure the floor studs *…

Lit. "brushwood mountain." A type of rustic water basin *chōzubachi…

Also written 鵄尾, 蚩尾, 鮪; also called tobi-no-o 鴟の尾, kutsugata 沓形 (shoes tile) because it is thought to…

1　One fourth of a log or piece of lumber, or a 1/4 scale reduction of a structural element. For example,…

The seven principal buildings considered necessary for a Buddhist temple from the 7-12th century. They include: the main…

Also called shichigosan ishigumi 七五三石組 Lit. "seven-five-three-style garden." The arrangement of 15 stones or pruned…

A style of Shinto shrine architecture originating in the Edo period, similar to the sengen style *…

Lit. "seven leaves." A decoration in the shape of seven petals, used on a gable pendant *…

Also read sasaebashira. A generic term for stress bearing timbers that strengthen and secure the frame of a…

A decorative motif that is characterized by a central flower pattern surrounded by either a flower or leaf pattern that is…

Lit. "shinden-style garden." The quintessential Heian period garden that was built in the central courtyard of…

A mortuary hall. One example is the rear part of the *Kaisandō 開山堂 at Eihōji…

Also called ottate daruki 追立垂木, munashita ogamidaruki 棟下拝垂木, shigaya daruki 枝茅垂木, and shinkai…

Closely spaced, parallel rafters. If the underside of a rafter and the space between it and the next rafter are equal, thus…

An unintentional unevenness or irregularity in workmanship.

An angled joint. There are two general types of shiguchi.

1　watashigake shiguchi…

Lit. "drizzle fence." A type of fence in which bunches of bamboo and bush clover are secured by the top bar of a fence so as…

1　A square paving stone, panel or other structural element. When square paving stones or tiles are laid…

A pattern of square paving stones, tiles, or marquetry etc. Each piece is laid on the diagonal, so that all the meeting…

A dovetail splicing joint *aritsugi 蟻継, made in such way that the dovetails…

Structural members that slant inward in four directions. Examples include the corner pillars of some belfries *…

Lit. "Buddhas of the four directions water basin." A type of water basin made from reused objects *…

Various joinery techniques used to insert beams, bracket arms *sashihijiki 挿肘木 or upper…

Lit. "four quarters piling." Also termed masugatazumi 桝形積 (square measuring box piling), and chikei-no-…

Also read edajiro 枝城. Also hajō 端城. Lit. "branch castle." A fortification, other than the main castle…

An abbreviation for *shikamibori 顰彫. Formerly also written shikami 獅噛. The…

Often abbreviated as *shikami 顰. The gouged-out or indented part of a moulding *…

Also ikka shiken 一花四間. A type of decorative flower pattern painted on coffered ceilings. Coffers *…

A stone-cutting technique for paving stones. According to certain tea ceremony sources various sized stones were used for…

Also called sara-ita 皿板. A sole plate. A flat level board placed on floor boards to form a base to erect posts or…

Also *ushibari 牛梁, nakahikibari 中引梁, ushihikibari 牛引梁, …

Also written 色代の間. A room or building that projects from (or adjacent and linked by galleries to) the rear of the main…

Also written 色代.

1　A low broad step or platform of timber, which had become a standard feature of the…

1　Also written 甃. Also called *shikihiragawara 敷平瓦, shikihira…

A wall plate. A beam placed on top of a wall. It supports the ends of transverse beams *…

Also nokishikigawara 軒敷瓦. An under-tile. A broad, concave tile laid underneath a broad concave eave-end pendant…

Also formerly called shikimi 閾; also called shiki 敷, shikiri しきり or shikige しきげ. A…

Also called *koshikake 腰掛.
A bench joint. A flat surface in…

The transfer of a deity, goshintai 御神体, from a permanent building to a temporary one *…