Also called nijū chigaidana 二重違い棚. Double staggered shelves of the shoin style *…

Lit. "partition gate." A gate that partitions or closes off one area from another. Two examples of partition gates are found…

Lit. "poetry paper windows." *Shikishi 色紙 refers to the square paper on which short poems…

Lime plaster used to coat walls, ceilings and earth floors *doma 土間. The word…

1　A generic term for a roof line that has a broken plane, the parts of which run in the same direction. A…

A pent-roof addition to a main building whose roof is at a lower level than main roof.

Also called shikoroyane 錣屋根. A method of constructing a hip-and-gable roof on separate planes. The gable is…

Also an old name read yotsuashimon and sometimes written 四足門; also called ikken-ikkomon 一間一戸門. A four-…

Lit. "arrangement of branch and leg stones." One way to arrange the five types of trump stones known as *…

1　The secondary or collateral lintel placed against the underside of the top lintel *…

An expression used to refer to any entrance gate at a Shinto shrine *torii 鳥居…

A gate located opposite the Shimizu 清水 moat (rebuilt 1658 ) at Edo-jō 江戸城, constructed in the *…

The lowest story of a two or more storied structure.

A toilet for servants. The toilet used by the elite or by the master in merchants housing was called jōchōzu 上手水.…

Lit. "lower kitchen."

1　The outermost part of the kitchen that functioned as a service zone in the…

Also called shimozan 下桟. The bottom piece on paneled doors *karado 唐戸…

1　A room in the front *shimote 下手 corner of the earth-floored…

Also koshinageshi 腰長押.

1　A non-penetrating tie beam *…

Also pronounced getai. The lower, flat or slanted part of the rim on a broad, concave eave-end tile *…

Lit. "lower hand." A position or seat of lower rank, or comparatively inferior position in a hierarchy. In traditional…

One of the residences granted to daimyō 大名 by the Edo government, as part of the system where feudal lords…

1　The seat of lowest status in a reception room *zashiki 座敷.…

Also called shin-no-hashira 心の柱, imibashira 忌柱 or 斎柱, or shin-no-mihashira 真の御柱. Non-structural,…

A garden fence with penetrating ties *nuki 貫 that run horizontally from one…

Also written 真. The center, core, heart, or pith of a log, pillar or wall. When expressing a distance from one pillar center…

A grouping of three stones, carefully balanced to resemble the character shina 品. The stone arrangement is…

Also written 真柱; called satsu 擦 or 刹. Lit. "heart pillar." The central pillar or shaft that forms the axis of a…

Centering. The center point of a line on a wooden structural member, as for example a pillar *…

A style of aristocratic mansions completed in the mid-10th century in the capital Kyoto, Heian-kyō 平安京. One of the main…

Lit. "new hall." Several of Japan's temple complexes include a building known as shindō. One of the most famous is…

1　A purlin that is placed directly across the tops of pillars *hashira…

Also called Shingondō 真言堂, Shūhōin 修法院 or Mandara dōjō 曼荼羅道場. Lit. "the mantra hall." A hall…

An alternative term for *nema 寝間. Also called nedokoro, nedoko…

A traditional Japanese method of constructing a plastered wall. The framing for the wall is set between pillars that remain…

A special stable to house the sacred horse offered to a shrine by the imperial family or a nobleman. The most famous is that…

Also futabashira torii 二柱鳥居. A generic name for a Shinto gate *torii…

An ancient style of Shinto shrine architecture used especially for the main sanctuary *…

A square beam that has a lengthwise section cut out of it. The cut reaches the center of the log and is made to prevent…

Lit. "deity gate." Any type of gate found at a shrine, excluding the gate-like entrance to the sacred ground of a Shinto…

1　The upper part of a timber that is cut diagonally on each side in order to form a peak. In cross section…

A Shinto shrine building where winter and summer clothing are sewn and offered to the deities. Some scholars believe that…

Lumber cut from sapwood, the living part of a tree trunk, or cut from sizable limbs attached to the dead heartwood. Timber…

Lit. "tree of immortals." A tree associated with Mt. Penglai *Hōraisan 蓬莱山,…

Also called gokūsho 供御所 or goryōya 御料屋; also nieden or niedono 贄殿. The place where…

The distance from the center of one pillar *hashira 柱 to the center of the…

Also called sasso 擦礎. The base stone for the central pillar *shinbashira…

The junction of two lengths of a purlin that are set into the top of a post. The line of the joint is centered to coincide…

Heartwood. The deep pith of a tree trunk or limbs. It is dark and sometimes redder than the surrounding sapwood *…

A lantern type that was designed after the Edo period for exclusive use for votive lights at shrines; it is not used for…

Also read shisori or also sōzori 総反. An eave that curves gradually upward from its mid point towards the…

1　A king post. A generic term for a roof strut, koyazuka 小屋束, that rests upon a transverse beam *…

The center of a timber indicated with a black line made by an inked marking string called sumi-ito 墨糸 or *…

Also written 紫折戸. Lit. "broken branch door." A type of wicket *kido 木戸 used at…

Lit. "salt glazed tile." A process used to frost-proof roofing tiles. A small quantity of salt is thrown on to the…

Also called shiribasami tsugi 尻挟継 or obasami tsugi 尾鋏継. A blind, stubbed, housed, rabbeted, oblique, scarf…

Lit. "a pillar lavishly decorated with cloisonne." Pillars embellished with a variety of materials and techniques: intricate…

A line made on timber using a tool with a needle-like point.

Lit. "white-brown color." Also shiracha 白茶. A light brown color.

Lit. "shirakawa stone." A type of granite quarried from the Shirakawa 白川 area north of Kyoto. Soft and easily…

Also written 白木柱, pronounced shiroki bashira. A tree trunk with its bark removed and used as a pillar. Its surface…

Also written 白木 and pronounced shiroki. A generic term for a natural timber that has been stripped of its bark…

To paint a surface with plaster *shikkui 漆喰, or a plastered surface.

1　The upper end of a roof tile. Also referred to as *kawarajiri…

Also called sedo 背戸. Backdoor, rear door of a building or a stable.
Also written 尻戸. The doors that constitute…

A nail or spike driven through a hole at the rear of a roof tile yanegawara 屋根瓦 to prevent it from slipping. In…

Also written 枝輪. A short, curved, non-supporting member that forms a diagonal transition between two parallel horizontal…

The process of castle construction, from site selection to the layout of the compound. Early modern military technicians…

1　A white, finishing coat of plaster *shikkui 漆喰 applied to a wall. It…

Also pronounced *shiraki bashira; also written 素木柱. A tree trunk…

Also goryō torii 御陵鳥居, shiroki torii 白木鳥居 or *shimaki torii…

A style of nosing *kibana 木鼻 carved to resemble the head and…

1　Lit. "lion-mouth tile." An ornamental tile placed on each end of a main ridge, instead of the more common…

1　A large window in the front wall frame of a principal living room *…

A private residence for high-ranking priests within the confines of a Buddhist temple. During the Heian period, this type of…

Also pronounced the kafuku setchin. A functional toilet placed in the outer tea garden *…

A temporary shed used by carpenters, stone masons, and plasterers to prepare structural members for a building. Often parts…

1　The layer of plaster or paint applied to a wall to create the proper surface for the finishing coat *…

Also written 助枝窓. Also called nurisashimado 塗さし窓, nurinokoshimado 塗残し窓, kakisashimado 掻さし窓. A…

1　The lower corners of any beam cut at an angle.

2　The lower corners of the…

Also pronounced shitagi or kaboku. The lower of two or more joined timbers. Shitaki is the…

Clapboard or weather board. Horizontal siding boards, laid in a slightly overlapping row.

The bottom rail of a door or gate door. The toprail is called uezurizan 上摺桟 or uebazuri 上端摺. The term …

The four pillars placed around the central pillar to form a square area on the first story of a pagoda. Four pillars also…

A fulcrum. The support point or prop upon which something can revolve. The point of load transfer from one structural…

Lit. "four guardian kings stones." Four stones placed in each corner of a garden. The stones serve the same apotropaic…

Lit. "Shitennōji 四天王寺 style"; also called Tachikawa-ryū 立川流. A school of carpenters during the Edo period. The…

A stone entrance gate *torii 鳥居 of the myōjin type *…

Lit. "four guardian king trees." A poetic title referring to the maiden-hair or gingko ichō 銀杏, camphor …

1　A generic term for timber shutters or doors that generally have vertical and horizontal lattice attached…

Also called hajitomi 半蔀 or *shitomi 蔀. Wooden shutters with crisscross…

Rafter interval system. A measuring method begun in the mid-13th century used to determine the proportions of a building's…

Lit. "four leaves." Abbreviation of *shiyōza 四葉座. A decorative pattern carved…

Also read yotsubaza. A metal nailhead cover *kugikakushi 釘隠 with…

1　Catalogs of temples and temple properties compiled from the year 783 by various state-sponsored temples,…

Lit. "natural stone water basins." A generic name for a water basin *chōzubachi…

Lit. "natural stone bridge." A type of stone bridge *ishibashi 石橋 made from…

A special mat for one or more guests, shōban 相伴, who are companions to the guest of honor, shōkyaku…

The ridge on an undulating bargeboard, nokikarahafu 軒唐破風. Supported by beams called shōbugeta 菖蒲桁.

Also pronounced seiden.

1　The center building of a palace, also called omotegoten…

Also seidō.

1　The fare hall or worshipper's hall of a temple, in contrast to the rear hall…