An architectural element that is bent or has a concave mid-point. A diagonal brace, for example, if less than 90 cm wide,…

Also read chūjikii. Lit. "middle sill." A sill on a shelf that divides a closet into two parts, lower and upper.…

Also called nakashōji 中障子, yoshiwara shōji 吉原障子, takeshōji 竹障子, nakanukido 中抜戸 and …

Also written 中縦桟. A vertical stile placed at the mid-point of a paneled door. A centrally placed horizontal stile is called…

Also written 中壷. The inner court between shop and living quarters in a merchant's house in the Edo period.

Also called banshi torii 伴氏鳥居. A stone entrance-gate to a Shinto shrine *torii…

Also written 中具. Secondary or intermediate supports placed in the interstices between the bracket complexes *…

A generic term for struts *tsuka 束 that are set at the mid-point between two…

A decorative shape said to resemble a sea slug, namako 海鼠. The shape is often used for the material handles of…

Also written 生子壁. A traditional finish for *dozō-zukuri 土蔵造 and *…

Also namirenji 波連子, yumirenji 弓連子, tatewaki renji 立涌連子. A type of latticework renji…

An ogre tile with a wave pattern descending from its base to form legs ashimoto 足元, that divide over the gable of…

Also written 魚子, 斜子. Lit. "fish-roe."
1　A pattern of small dots thought to resemble fish-roe, and…

Also urokogaki 鱗垣, gonomegaki 互の目垣. A fence made from semi-circular pieces of bamboo or metal. Bamboo…

Seven trump stones in the *roji 露地 or tea garden. They are the hand-washing stone…

Book of Sen no Rikyū's 千利休 (1522-91) tea ceremony secrets which consists of seven volumes entitled: "Memoranda Oboegaki…

The great south gate at Tōdaiji 東大寺 in Nara. The term is also used for the main south gate at other temples.

1　A store room in which clothes and valuables could be kept in the houses of the civil, ecclesiastical and…

Lit. "How many bays? How many entrances?" Questions posed in order to ascertain the number of bays *…

Lit. "southern capital seven great temples." A generic expression in use by the 8th century referring to the seven great…

Also read noraidono, gesaiden 解斎殿. A shrine building to which priests retire after performing the Shinto…

Also read sōdō. Twin buildings in the grounds of a Japanese temple that are of equal length, but not necessarily of…

Also read sōsō. Lit. "twin storehouses." Two storehouses of the same size placed so that the space between was the…

Lit. "Narihira sleeve fence." A common type of rustic see-though sleeve fence, sukashi sodegaki 透袖垣. The frame,…

A gate used between the outer and inner gardens *roji 露地 leading to a teahouse *…

A simple gate located in the northeast corner ofthe inner moat uchi-no-hori 内の濠 of the inner citadel Honmaru 本丸 (…

A tea caddy for storing weak green powdered tea. Also called *usuchaki…

Also sudare shōji 簾障子. Sliding screens *shōji 障子, that are…

Castle plan; general term for the layout of a castle and its component structures. Lit. "stretched rope," the term is said…

Also called nawakakesan or nawakakezan 縄掛桟, also pronounced nawakakezan. Lit. "rope-hanging beam…

Also called medake 女竹; ganchiku 含竹, shinobedake しのべ竹 or naedake 苗竹. Thin bamboo…

Lit. "root stone."

1　Also soko-ishi 底石 (base stone), chizen-ishi 地全石, dodai-…

Lit. "Nebukawa stone." A type of andesite found near Nebukawa 根府川 Village near Odawara 小田原 in modern Kanagawa Prefecture.…

A floor joist. A horizontal structural member made of cypress, cedar or pine, laid on a sleeper *…

A ceiling made over the first floor of a two story building. The ceiling has joists above it which form the structural base…

Horizontal supports which receive floor joists. Also called *ōbiki 大引.

Also *nema 寝間, *nando 納戸, *heya…

The *jōkamachi 城下町, or town below the castle in the late medieval…

Also called *manekihijiki 招肘木. A small bracket arm, a…

Lit. "twisted construction." A bevelled, wooden, angled joint, sogi mokuzō shiguchi 殺木造仕口, commonly used to connect…

Also read nejō. Lit. "root castle." The base of military operations. When several castles comprise a unit, …

Lit. "root fetters." Also called umekasenuki 埋械貫, nekasenuki 根械貫, negaraminuki 根がらみ貫. Large flat…

Lit. "cat's leg." A type of short, curved leg found on low desks or tables. The base of the leg curls inward. Variations are…

Also *magoshōji 孫障子. A small sliding panel set within a standard…

Also nekoza 猫座; nekogi 猫木. A short piece of wood projecting from the upper part of a pillar or from the…

A room for sleeping in vernacular houses *minka 民家 of the Edo period.…

Also nezutsumi 根包. A wrap made of spaced wooden slats bound together with rope or metal strips, ornamented metal…

A gold-plated metal decoration *kazarikanagu 飾金具 carved with…

A hall within the precinct of a Buddhist temple used for the purpose of training Buddhist monks to meditate on and recite…

A mud fence (a type of earthen wall *dobei 土塀) constructed with…

Also nezubashiri, tokami 椙. Also called jiku-ukemagusa 軸受まぐさ. A horizontal timber with a…

A flat wooden device placed between the top of a post and under the timber flooring of a log storehouse *…

1　The audience's entrance at a theater or place of entertainment during the Muromachi period. Even when the…

Lit. "second circle." The second compound outside of, or immediately adjacent to the main compound *…

Lit. "second stone."

1　A stone placed outside a house, particularly a *…

Roughly dressed lumber measuring less than three *ken 間 (5.5 m) in length and more…

Lit. "second month hall." A temple widely known for its famous ancient festival called omizutori お水取り in March…

Also *kayōzuka 荷葉束 and rengezuka 蓮華束. Decorative carved…

Also called nijiri agariguchi 躙上り口; nijirido 躙戸 and kuguriguchi 潜口. Lit. "a crawl-in or wriggle-…

A term that can be applied to any temple or shrine building etc., which has either a double roof, a skirting *…

Also nisei kidan 二成基壇. A stepped podium with two layers. The upper layer is called *…

A double-layered non-penetrating tie beam with the upper layer often as thick as the lower one. These are found as base tie…

Also called kakemonokugi 掛物釘. A type of hooked nail *orekugi 折釘. A…

Two-tiered transverse beams with struts between them to form part of a roof framework. The upper transverse beam is about…

Also nijū tsuridana 二重釣棚. A double hanging shelf *tsuridana 釣棚,…

A framework used especially in temples and shrines to sustain the roof. It is composed of double rainbow beams *…

A roof framework in which only smaller bearing blocks *makito 巻斗 are placed on…

A two-storied gate that has a flanking roof that surrounds the lower story and most frequently has a hip-and-gable roof *…

A transverse tie beam positioned between the ceiling of the first storied and the floor of the second storied of a building…

A second story corridor. A corridor of this type is thought to have first existed at Tōfukuji 東福寺, in Kyoto established in…

Also read Jikkamon, written Nikkamon 日花門 (found in *Shōmei 匠明…

Double tenons. Double tenons take many forms including individual, rectangular tenons of the same size placed side by side…

Also suikazura karakusamon; also nindō karakusa 忍冬唐草. Lit. "honeysuckle arabesque pattern." A pattern used…

1　Also pronounced suikazura. Honeysuckle.
2　Abbreviation of *…

Broad, concave, roof tiles set directly above and slightly back from the broad, concave, pendant tiles *…

A type of decorative pattern used for muntins on transoms *ranma 欄間. The design…

A building or often a gate that enshrines the two guardian deities, protectors of Buddhism. They are generally placed at the…

Also written 仁王門. A true two-storied gate *nijūmon 二重門, or a high gate *…

A castle compound to the west of the main compound *honmaru 本丸. In a early-…

West dormitory. In the 7th and 8th centuries, some temples had monk's quarters to the west of the lecture hall as well as…

A middle gate *chūmon 中門 at a Buddhist temple. Usually it is an 8-…

The main living room *hiroma 広間, adjacent to the earthen-floored area…

Also abbreviated to niwadaikoku 庭大黒.

1　A freestanding post *…

1　A defined open space, as distinct from the natural landscape, and reserved for work of an agricultural…

Lit. "garden lantern." Lanterns, not for exclusive use in gardens, but are also placed at shrines and at roadsides. One…

1　A new cooking range *kamado 竃, or open hearth *…

Also *ara-ishi 荒石. An unprocessed stone, a rough stone, an unrefined…

An unplanned, unfinished rough timber. Generally the timbers are split with a wedge and not processed any further.

1　A prefix attached to the name of a structural member to indicate that the member is not visible.…

1　In a general sense nobe means the entire length of any timber used in construction.

…

Also written 展段 and 展檀. A method of stone paving in the *roji 露地 or tea garden in…

Also nobeto 延べ斗. A rectangular bearing block that is wider than usual and supports a corner bracket arm *…

Lit. "ascendance; to go up; rise."

1　A sloping line or surface and the measurements of these surface…

The sleeve or curb stones that slant along each side of the stone steps leading up to a podium *…

Lit. "rising beam," "raking beam."

1　Also *noboriki 登木 or…

Gable coping or raking coping. Coping, a protective covering, provided on sloping areas or edges such as on a gable roof *…

Also pronounced noborigi. Also called *noboribari 登梁.

1　…

Also called sobanoki 傍軒. Also called raking beams. The inclined eaves along the edge of the bargeboards *…

Lit. "ascending eave hanging tiles." The semi-cylindrical tiles *marugawara…