A hole cutout piece bored on the back of a large, thick, non-penetrating tie beam *…

An ornament used to conceal the head of a large nail on a pressing tie rail *nageshi…

Also kuginuki 釘貫. A roofless gate found at imperial tombs, mansions, and government check points. When the gate has…

1　A generic term for a small door, very often a wicket door set into the leaf of another larger door or…

A generic term for a small low entrance through which one has to stoop or crawl. Often fitted in a large gate, so people may…

1　A small low gate cut through an earth wall, tsuchibei 土塀, or timber fence *…

Also kigui 木杭. Pile. A wooden stake or post driven into the ground. Closely placed round wooden posts, often shaved…

Staggered embankments. A castle-wall design where the left and right embankments *doi…

Also pronounced kyūjū-no-tō. A 9-storied pagoda. Kudaradaiji 百済大寺 (6th-7th century) in Nara, and Hōshōji 法勝寺 (Heian…

Lit. braided fence. A generic name for fences in which the lattice pieces of the fence are braided. In some cases the bamboo…

Also kumiire 組入 or kumitenjō 組天井.

1　A latticed ceiling. Heavy,…

Lit. arranged well crib. A type of well made of four joined stone blocks. It is also called kakikomi ido 掻込井戸 (…

A decorative pattern of interlocking hexagonal shapes with small triangles in the interstices. A variation of the tortoise…

1　A muntin, mullion, or munnion. The non-structural timber parts set within the stiles *…

A beam set parallel to the eave purlin which functions like a fulcrum to support and absorb the weight of a beam called *…

A built-up ridge compound or rows of patterned tiles *munakomigawara…

A generic term used in Japanese wood architecture to refer to the joining of one member to another by means of various types…

Lit. cloud principal-rafter fins. A pair of sculpted forms *hire 鰭 in decorative…

Also written 雲枝輪. Lit. cloud strut. A type of slanting ceiling strut *shirin 支輪…

Kumogata hijiki 雲形肘木. A cloud-patterned bracket arm that is characterized by a somewhat complicated decorative…

Also pronounced kumomasu or unto. Lit. cloud-shaped bearing block. A bearing block carved with a cloud-…

Also called kumogata tokyō 雲形斗きょう or kumogata kumimono 雲形組物. Lit. cloud pattern bracket complex. A…

The small dais in front of a Buddhist altar on which offerings of boiled rice are placed.

A single-volume book detailing Chinese objects, particularly tea-ceremony utensils, given to the shogunal family by Ashikaga…

A single-storied, circular pagoda with a pyramidal roof. A type of *hōtō…

Lit. country fired. An expression used by tea masters in the Edo period to refer to ceramic tea caddies *…

"Pond (shaped like the) character 九," one type of garden pond. It is described in the garden manual Hihon sakuteiden…

An alternative term for *dozō-zukuri 土蔵造, the fireproof…

The process of laying floor boards so that the edges fit snugly together and the top surface is perfectly smooth. Wherever…

Lit. Kurama stone. A type of granite quarried in the Mt. Kurama 鞍馬 area north of Kyoto. Light brown in color and of fine…

Also *zashikigura 座敷蔵. A fireproof structure *…

Also called se-ita 背板. A roof board that is cut along the annual rings nenrin 年輪 of a tree trunk. Such…

Also pronounced guri-ishi. Chestnut stones. Small stones (10-30 cm in diameter) that were used as packing or…

1　Aiso written 庫裏. A structure in the precincts of a temple originally associated primarily with food…

Curved designs carved into wood to make moldings *kurigata 繰形.

Also written 刳形. Incised or molded decoration that appears on the edge of exposed architectural members such as no sings *…

Also kūrin 空輪, hōrin 宝輪. A part of the finial on top of a pagoda. Usually nine metal rings are attached to…

A type of open frog strut honkaerumata 本蟇股, which is cut from a single timber with decorative openwork carvings *…

1　A cooking structure which houses a cooking range *kamado…

Also abbreviated to kurodo 黒戸. Lit. black door of the palace. A long narrow structure that was used for private…

Unstripped or unbarked timber. A log which is cut so that the bark is left intact. Small unbarked logs, left in their…

The simplest type of Shinto gate *torii 鳥居 belonging to the …

Lit. pulley well. A general term for wells in which the water is drawn by a bucket and rope attached to a pulley. This…

Also read *toboso 枢; kuro or kuroro.

1…

Also written 曲輪. The general term for a castle compound. In the medieval period, when a mountain castle *…

A passage used by grooms in *shoin 書院 style stables *…

A wedge. Easily identified by its isosceles triangle shape. Its two main sides slant from its relatively wide top to a very…

Also kusabuki yane 草葺屋根; kuzuyane 葛屋根. Lit. grass roofing. The material used to build one style of…

Lit. decayed knot. A common flaw in wood which can contribute to weakness in any lumber intended to support other members.…

Lit. chain room. The origin of the term is unclear. According to the Fuhaku hikki 不白筆記 (Notes Written by Kawakami…

A type of lantern where the canopy is in the shape of a hipped roof and the flame recipient looks like a house.

Lit. stone(s) from the nine mountains and eight seas. A single stone or group of stones placed around another stone meant to…

A transom *ranma 欄間, with an arched opening in the shape of a comb *…

1　Lit. Comb shape. A semicircular shape、or part of a semicircle, often with trimmed corners. Used in…

A partition *hei 塀 between the dado band *…

A window in the shape of a comb *kushigata 櫛形. Sometimes built into outside…

Also called *hashira-ishi 柱石. Lit. shoe or boot stone. The foundations…

A decorative metal fitting *kanagu 金具, wound around the bottom…

Also called anamon 穴門. Lit. cave gate. An arched side gate *kugurimon…

Lit. shoe-removing stone. A flat-topped stone used for taking off one's shoes before entering a *…

Also kutsuzuriwaku 沓摺枠. A threshold or doorsill upon which a hinged door closes snugly because the sill is a little…

A memorial pagoda, for which there is no particular shape or size. Kuyōtō is an offering of worldly goods such…

A crumbling wall. A type of stone fence *ishigaki 石垣 in which stones are…

The guest's mat in a tea ceremony room *chashitsu 茶室. It is usually close to…

Lit. guest stone. A type of stepping stone *yaku-ishi 役石 placed…

Lit. guest hall. A building constructed in one of three residential styles: *shoin-…

1　A seat used by a guest.

2　In traditional vernacular houses *…

Lit. sutra scrolls. Three or five cylindrical tiles found at the top of a lion-mouth roof *…

Natural scenery of a particular place; environment. Whenever possible, temples of the Zen 禅 sect during the medieval period…

Also read ijō and ijiro. A castle or fortification in which the castle lord resides on a daily basis…

1　A manor or palace, yakata 館, where a lord resides.

2　In the case…

1　The standard measurement used for bay size in the Kansai 関西 region, along the Inland Sea, along the San'…

The method used to attach a purlin *jōyageta 上屋桁 and transverse beams *…

Also called sen kyoshimon 線鋸歯文. Saw-tooth pattern. Kyoshimon includes the zigzag pattern *…

Also called kyōko 経庫, kyōdō 経堂, zōden 蔵殿. A repository and storehouse for sutras, or sacred books…

Kyūdaisu is an abridged form of kyūdai daisu 及第台子. Also written 弓台子. An informal type of portable…

Also kūden 空殿.

1　Also *zushi 厨子, an old term…

Also called kamuroguchi 禿口, *kayoiguchi 通い口 or *…

A corner loophole or gunport. Loopholes made at a ninety-degree corner of a castle wall, rather than in a flat wall. The…

A plank door filled with widely set, horizontal laths, kozan 小桟.

Also abarawari あばら割. Lit. "sparsely proportioned." The same meaning as ma-mabara 間疎 (sparse or scanty).…

1　Posts or pillars of the same or smaller diameter than the main pillars of a building.

2…

Translucent sliding screens *shōji 障子, opaque screens *…

Lit. "waiting stone." One of the seven trump stones *nanatsu-ishi 七つ石 in…

Also pronounced chō.

1　The raised paths that divided and defined sunken paddies in ancient…

Also machiaishitsu 待合室.

1　A waiting and resting shelter. Typically a rustic structure…

Also pronounced chōnami.

1　Streetscape in an urban area. The linear space defined by the…

1　Also written 町屋. One of the two main categories of vernacular house *minka…

Window. Many other characters for window used have been used since the 6th century. For example: 窗 and 牒, 向 and 間戸 or 間門.…

A window sill. The horizontal part at the bottom of a window frame in a wooden building. The sill is supported by the base…

The window frame into which a window sash is installed. The timber that surrounds a window.

Lit. "window decoration." A thin decoration that is hung around the outer border of a window, over the curtain, to provide…

The non-penetrating tie beams used for the frame of a window opening. One, called madoshita nageshi 窓下長押, is placed…

A floor plan. The arrangement of rooms in a dwelling, including access points, windows, hallways, verandas, toilets, and…

Posts placed on each side of a window. In the case of thatched tea ceremony houses *…

A window frame into which a window sash or casing is set. The frame consists of two vertical side pieces, tatewaku…

1　Also called kazari-ishi 飾石, tōage-ishi 灯あげ石, tōtomoshi-ishi 灯ともし石. A flat…

The front gable of a gable roof that flows directly away from the ridge and extends further than the rear gable. The long…

A large ripsaw with a blade about 60 cm long and 40 cm wide. It was first introduced in the 15th century and was used until…

Standard purpose carpenters' ripsaw. A ripsaw with a blade approximately 35-40 cm long and 12 cm wide. The blade narrows…