Sectional details. Also kanabakari 矩計. A detailed drawing of the specific parts of a structure in a scale larger…

A term used for the imaginary center point from which fan rafters *ōgidaruki…

A penetrating beam *nuki 貫 that is inserted into the structure of a belfry *…

A line running at a right angle to another line, or something that moves at a direction of 90 degrees relative to something…

The 45 degree pitch of the hypotenuse, the side opposite the right angle, of an isosceles right-angled triangle. A right…

A gate bar. A heavy piece of timber or iron used to affix a plank door to its structure. The kannuki is slipped…

1　Shrines which in the Nara and Heian periods received special government supported status. These shrines…

A composite style that includes a mixture of architectural elements from the daibutsu style *…

Either double plank doors *itakarado 板唐戸 in a single opening or paneled…

A molding found on the corners of pillars, sills, etc, often used on paneled doors such as *…

Lit. Chinese fence. Also written 韓垣 meaning a Korean fence.

1　A generic name for an ancient…

An undulating bargeboard. The shape of a karahafu flows downward from the top center with convex-curves on each…

Also pronounced karaijiki. An abbreviationof kara-ishishiki 唐石敷.

1　A thick…

Also called *karakami 唐紙. A term used in the late 19th century for opaque…

Also pronounced tōboku; also meiboku 銘木. Timber from the tropics including red sandalwood (rosewood…

Also written 烏飛び.

1　A set of fire fighting equipment installed on the roof ridge of an urban…

1　A crowning board. Similar to the lid placed at the top of storage boxes for rain shutters *…

A horizontal, non-penetrating head beam nailed along the outside and inside of the top face of pillars. If the nails show,…

Horizontal head penetrating tie beams that are connected to the tops of pillars to make them secure. These tie beams may be…

A cleat. A strip of metal or wood driven into two members to hold them together securely. A metal cleat that is bent at each…

1　A pattern representing mist, often stylized into shapes like the ideographs 工 or 王. It is used as a…

Also written 型板. A template. Boards cut with designs that can be traced onto members that require moldings. For example, the…

Also katahiki shōji. A single, horizontally sliding translucent screen *shōji…

Lit. one-way pull door. A single leaf sliding door that is pulled left and right to open and close. There are two sliding…

Lit. single swinging door. A rotating door katabirakido 片開戸, or window katabirakimado 片開窓, that…

A construction method that uses half brackets on top of the corners in the inner worship sanctuary *…

Also *nagare 流. The slope, in one direction, of one side of a…

A common abbreviation for katanakazumi 片中隅. The point that indicates 1/4 of the entire length of a structural…

A folding door that is hinged to a single gate post. When the leaf attached to the gate post is pulled closed, the folding…

Also written 花頭窓. A synonym for genjimado 源氏窓. The name is derived from the window in the room called Genji-no-ma…

The building material, such as rough or dressed stone, that forms the horizontal edge of a podium *…

Also pronounced kazura-ishi; also written 桂石.

1　Curbstones or edging stones, also…

Also pronounced gawabashira. The pillars or posts placed on the perimeter of a building to form the basic framework…

Also pronounced gawadodai. The ground sill under the outer wall of a traditional architectural structure. …

A proto-modern, generic term for toilet. It is said that centuries ago such facilities were constructed above a swiftly…

Originally kaya 上屋 (on top of the house). A proto-modern generic term for the grass and reeds used to thatch roofs…

Also *kayabuki yane 茅葺屋根. Lit. thatching with miscanthus. However, the…

An eave support. A curved horizontal timber that connects the rafters. It is placed on flying rafters that are under the…

Lit. lotus leaf strut. Also read kashōzuka. Commonly called *nigirihasu…

It is found in mansions with large rooms *hiroma 広間, in the shoin…

Also *seki-ita 塞板, maku-ita 幕板, or itamochi…

Also kekomi 蹴込, kekomi-ita 蹴込板 or *kehanashi 蹴放. A riser.…

1　Also called *ukebana 受花. A section of a lotus pedestal *…

A threshold or sill. A horizontal timber without grooves, positioned beneath an entrance so that a door or gate closes flush…

Also pronounced kemudashi. A smoke louvre. An opening in the roof of a building designed to allow smoke from a…

A bay; the space between two columns. During the Nara and Heian periods most buildings had no interior partitions and…

The method used to describe the plan of a traditional temple or shrine building. It included the number of lengthwise bays…

Lit. Kenninji style. A school of carpentry headed by Kōra Munehiro 甲良宗広 who left Shiga Prefecture to go to Edo (Tokyo) in…

Also read kenjo. The seating arrangement in the front and on both sides of the main stage in a *…

A bearing block placed on top of a strut *tsuka 束 or a frog-leg…

A strut composed of a short post surmounted by a bearing block *masu 斗. It is…

A barge course, gable overhang or a raking eave. The part of the roof that extends beyond the gable wall or gable pediment…

Exposed rafter. In general, any visible rafter as opposed to one not visible *nodaruki…

Also read keshōban; also keshōzai 化粧材. A planed timber. Keshō-ita are normally exposed to…

The pitch of exposed rafters *keshō daruki 化粧垂木. The pitch…

A visible horizontal lath set between roof sheathing *ura-ita 裏板 and widely…

Lit. exposed core purlin. A purlin *moyageta 母屋桁 in the core of a temple…

Lit. exposed ridge. While this ridge is not usually visible from inside a structure because of the installation of a ceiling…

The roof sheathing laid over rafters which is visible from under the eaves of an open-beamed ceiling. One such example is…

Also called *keshōyaneura 化粧屋根裏. The underside of a timber roof, commonly…

The underside of a roof visible because no ceiling has been installed. The pitch of the roof and various structural elements…

The underside of an eave *noki 軒 in a hidden roof that is not…

1　The direction of the purlins or plates *keta 桁 in a building,…

The nosings that appear either as an extension of a tie beam *nuki 貫, or bracket…

Also called *karadomen 唐戸面. A chamfer in which the corners of…

A class of platform or podium specially associated with Buddhist temple buildings dating from the 7th-12th century. It was…

Also written 城戸. A gate in a fence or palisade.

1　The generic term for a gate in a fence between 250…

Also kakō kidori 加工木取; aradori 疎取; arakidori 疎木取.

1　The…

1　The thickness of a timber.

2　The quality or grain of wood.

…

Also read sumigane 墨矩; kikujutsu 規矩術; tsubokane 壷矩.

1　Also…

Sometimes pronounced kikudo; also called onito or onimasu 鬼斗, sumito 隅斗, …

Lit. recent ages. The proto-modern age that includes the Momoyama and Edo periods (1568-1868). During the former period…

A flying rafter support. A long horizontal timber or plate placed close to the ends of the base rafters *…

A method used to determine the proper width of a veranda. The technique positions the outer edge of the veranda in direct…

A raised ceiling. A ceiling raised by a low wall, straight struts, or vertical or horizontal strips of wood. A ceiling…

Also called kirido 切戸, okubyōguchi 臆病口, wasureguchi 忘れ口. A small wicket entrance with a…

Also kirizuma hafu 切妻破風. A term used for bargeboards *hafu 破風, attached…

1　A square structural element from which a right angled section cut from each corner. Also called …

Also kirikizami 切刻み. The measuring and cutting of all structural members into predetermined forms. Before large…

A threshhold tie beam. A penetrating tie beam placed between the sliding door track *…

In the 10th to 12th century, an earthen floored passageway that was a continuation of a floored connecting corridor, …

Also kiremen. The simple chamfer used on a square post with straight-cut, 45 degrees planed corners. The tool used…

An opening set into the second-story floor of a storehouse *dozō 土蔵 or shop…

Also called mabisashi 眉廂. A small eave, generally not exceeding 30 cm, that extends from the top of the lintel *…

Also called *ryōsage 両下 or ryōka 両下. One of the…

Also called *ryōsage 両下; iraka-zukuri 甍造. A style of building…

A carpenter's term for the ink line drawn on a timber to indicate where it should be cut. The tool used to draw this line is…

The footing or foundation of a building. A generic term for any substructure that bears the weight of a superstructure.…

Also kizure gōshi 木連格子; tsumagōshi 妻格子. The latticework that fills the gable pediment, hafu-no…

A corrupted form for *tsumado 妻戸. Latticework *…

Lit. wood-cutting. Also kikudaki 木砕. A system for measuring out the wooden components to be used in architecture or…

1　The process of working on timber to create the desired structural element. See *…

Wooden slats, placed 2 cm apart, which are attached horizontally to main posts *hashira…