1　Equivalent to *inokosasu 豕扠首 in shrine and temple…

Also sashibari 指梁. The transverse beam which supports the triangular framework *…

The horizontal base on which the diagonal braces *sasuzao 扠首竿 are placed in the gable of a…

1　Diagonal braces *sasuzao 扠首竿, set on transverse beams *…

Flush or even surfaces. Surfaces that are on the same plane. For example, a threshold *shikii…

Also 扠首棹. The diagonal braces used to form the triangular frame in many gable pediments *…

Also keshōzuka 化粧束.

1　A short strut centered between the diagonal braces *…

Also called ōiya 覆屋 or *kusari-no-ma 鎖の間.

1…

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

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…

The execution of a construction project.

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

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

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

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…

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

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…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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…

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

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

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…

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

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

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

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…

The lowest story of a two or more storied structure.

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

Also koshinageshi 腰長押.

1　A non-penetrating tie beam *…

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

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

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

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…

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

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

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

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

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…

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

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 *…

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.

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…

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…

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…

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

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

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…

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

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

One of Japan's most important residential architectural styles, shoin-zukuri was established in the Momoyama period…

Also called sōji, a term prevalent in the medieval age. A generic term for partitions that can divide the interior…

1　An archaic term taken directly from the Chinese for a ceiling board. Usually,…

Lit. "clarification for the artisan-builder." The best known manual of construction and building design. It is based on oral…

Enlarged drawings that render particular parts of a building in minute detail. This includes complete sectional, partial,…

1　Edo period towns used as a stopping place by the Tokugawa 徳川 shoguns when they traveled outside the city…

Also called kiwaki or kowaki 木端. A side or end view of a board or plank which reveals its thickness.

Rafters *taruki 垂木 laid on an eave sobanoki 傍軒, that juts out from a…

Also sōban 双盤. A cushion or footing stone with a concave upper part and a convex lower part placed between the…

Lit. "sleeve."

1　A generic term meaning any structural element that is on the side of a main…

Aside or wing wall.

1　A generic term for a narrow wall projecting from either an inside or outside…

The process by which the diameter of the ends of large rainbow beams *kōryō 虹梁…

Small wing-like balustrades placed at an open angle to the right and left of the bottom of the steps leading to the veranda…

1　A small reinforcement post attached to the side of a larger post or pillar. If a reinforcement post is…

1　A splice, fish plate, splint or brace. Timber strips attached to principal pillars to stabilize or…

Also called yosezuka 寄束 or wakizuka 脇束. Small reinforcing struts attached to one or both sides of a beam…