The method of arranging stepping stones *tobi-ishi 飛石 in a straight line. If…

Lit. straight line roof. Roofs without any curved surfaces. A hip roof *yosemune…

The chokushiden is the place where an envoy, chokushi 勅使, stays when he is sent to a shrine to offer…

A gate originally used only by the Emperor. Primarily found at Buddhist temples, it is usually a four-legged gate *…

An adze. Also written 手斧. A carpenters' tool with a curved handle fitted with a blade. It is used for rough finishing of…

A method of construction that employed long substantial beams called *chōnabari…

Transverse roof beams that span the distance from the center posts of a vernacular house with a thatched roof to the *…

Cutting decorative patterns with an adze *chōna 釿 on chestnut wood …

Also written 釿初, 手斧初. Also called kozukuri hajime 木造り始め or onohajime 斧始め. A carpenter's ceremony performed…

Also called chōnahatsuri 釿斫. A decorative pattern carved into the visible surface of a timber using an adze *…

Lit. Korean type mountain castle. A general term for castle structures in Japan that resemble those in ancient Korea.…

Lit. hyper-naturalism. The idea of basing a garden, or a single element in it, on nature, but exaggerating the natural…

Lit. hand-washing stone. One of the seven trump stones *nanatsu-ishi 七つ石…

Lit. hand water bowl. A water basin used to rinse the hands or as a decorative element in gardens. Usually made of stone,…

Also written 手水屋. Also called suibansha 水盤舎 or temizuya 手水舎. Shrine or temple building for cleaning hands…

The central, circular part of a round, eave-end, pendant tile *gatō 瓦当…

The middle base of a lantern *tōrō 灯籠 upon which rests the flame holder and…

Middle area. In upper class residences especially from the Momoyama period and through the Edo period, seating was…

The space *ai-no-ma 相の間 between the sanctuary *…

Lit. central hall. A hall situated between two Buddhist halls or a hall with corridors attached on either side. The most…

A term used in shrine architecture: a middle area between the *honden 本殿, *…

Lit. middle golden hall. An image hall *kondō 金堂 located at the center of…

1　Middle gate. The second or inner gate on the north-south axis of a temple compound in the ancient period…

A type of vernacular house *minka 民家, characterized by one or more wings or…

1　A Heian-period corridor intersected by gates. In the most elaborate Heian-period shinden style…

A term for a loft or attic occupying the roof space of a vernacular house *minka…

Lit. medieval architecture. Temple and shrine buildings erected during the Kamakura, Nanbokuchō, and Muromachi periods when…

A smoothing plane, used to further smooth the surface of timber after the general roughing plane *…

Also tenjō chūshinkazari 天井中心飾. Lit. center flower.

1　A group of decorative patterns in…

Lit. center stone(s). A single stone or stone arrangement *ishigumi 石組,…

A synonym for the large bearing block *daito 大斗 placed on the tops of pillars…

A fort located at a strategic location on a sea coast, riverbank, or island. It was furnished with large guns. Daiba were…

A long, low, rectangular table on which food was served in the emperor's residential compound, Dairi 内裏, of the imperial…

A room that contains a *daiban 台盤, a long, low, rectangular table on which food…

Lit. Indian style. The style of architecture introduced to Japan when the priest Chōgen 重源 (1121-1206) returned from China.…

Also daibutsuyōkei kibana 大仏様系木鼻. Lit. nosings in the daibutsu style. Incised nosings found on bracket…

Also daibutsuyō tokyō 大仏様斗きょう. Lit. Great-Buddha-style bracket complex. A bracket system introduced by the priest,…

Typical daibutsu style *daibutsuyō 大仏様, decorative carvings *…

Also daiyūden 大雄殿.

1　A synonym for main hall *hondō…

1　Believed to be an abbreviated form of *daibandokoro…

A large crosscut saw with a blade 70 cm long and 30 cm wide that has a wooden handle at each end for two people. This saw…

Also written 大陰虎口. A simple, early form of castle entrance *koguchi …

A unique Chinese style four-legged gate made by Chinese carpenters in 1644 using imported, broad leaf cedar. It is located…

Also called wakibashira 脇柱; taishōbashira 大将柱. Initially, the square post placed at the right front corner…

Also daijōgū. A temporary palace of unstripped timber, untreated grasses and reeds, and bamboo, used for the Grand…

Also read ōnihe matsuri, ōnie matsuri, ōname matsuri, and ōmube matsuri. The Great Food…

Also called daikagurabashira 太神楽柱; *kudabashira 管柱 or…

Lit. large strolling-style garden. A type of large-scale garden which is enjoyed on foot. Most large strolling gardens…

Lit. large lecture hall. The lecture hall at Hōryūji 法隆寺 in Nara is the most famous and oldest extant daikōdō. The…

Also written 大極柱, shin-no-hashira 心の柱, yaku-bashira 役柱, and naka-bashira 中柱.

1…

1　An abbreviation for *Daikokuten 大黒天 (Sk: Mahakala). Regarded by…

Carpenter.

1　Often pronounced daikō. Also ōtakumi or ōkitakumi in old…

Also written 代目畳, 大目畳. A straw mat about three-quarters the length of a standard size mat, about 135-137 cm long. In Kyoto…

Also called *nakabashira 中柱 or *…

An alcove *tokonoma 床の間, with a wooden base, found in a small tea ceremony…

A placement of the firebox or hearth inside the guest's mat which results in a smaller than normal size tatami mat…

A center joint. An oblique scarf joint combining a housed *daboso 太ぼそ joint and blind tenons. The mortises are…

Also pronounced *ōmon. A generic term for a variety of styles of main gates. One…

Lit. daimyō garden. The Edo period strolling-style *kaiyūshiki teien…

A plane used to shave the base of another plane. It is very important in planing that the base of the plane stock, known as…

A general term for gates belonging to the Imperial Palace, Kyoto Gosho 京都御所. The *Shōmei…

Also called ōro. A tea-room firebox or hearth made larger than the normal 42 cm square. Measurements varied, but…

Lit. great master hall. Daishidō are temple buildings particularly important to the Shingon 真言 sect, established by…

A fairly large, portable, double-shelved display for tea ceremony utensils. Traditionally, it was used at the most formal…

Lit. large *tenshu 天守. The principal tower. The largest tenshu in a…

The largest type of bearing block *masu 斗, usually placed directly on top of a…

Lit. Large pagoda. A 2-storied pagoda. A large pagoda of the *tahōtō 多宝塔 type,…

A large bearing block *daito 大斗 with a bracket arm *…

1　A wall plate or top plate placed along the top of head-penetrating tie beams *…

A mite red, right-angle joint used at the corner, sumi 隅, of a building to join a wall plate, *…

Also called daiyūden 大雄殿 or *daiden 大殿. Lit. great leader's treasure…

Also *daiza 台座. The pedestal or base beneath a sculpture, pagoda, or lantern.…

Also kazunemaru 重ね丸. An interjacent tile. A section of a semi-cylindrical roof tile laid between the first broad…

1　Also written 反. A step. The level part or tread of a flight of stairs. When made of wood, the tread is…

1　A generic term for a level mound or platform raised above the surrounding ground. An earthen mound may be…

A simple step-ladder, also called hashigo 梯子 or hashigodan 梯子段. Examples include a *…

1　A roofing method that uses copper sheets laid in a step-like pattern.

2　A roofing…

Also written 壇正積; danjōzumi kidan 壇上積基壇. A style of podium introduced to Japan from Korea in the latter half of the…

Lit. layered pruning. A basic type of pruning *karikomi 刈込. When used for a…

Lit. cutting scenery. The technique of blocking off scenery outside the garden. Most often a large clipped hedge, …

Lit. a section. A vertical section scale drawing of a building or architectural detail shown either transversely, …

Also yokodanmen-zu 横断面図, also read ōdanmen-zu. Lit. a cross section drawing on the longitudinal axis. …

Also called yamaboko 山鉾, hikiyama 引山, maiguruma 舞車, odoriguruma 踊車, and yatai…

A structural member in the roof of the main part of a dwelling, placed above the 1-bay wide corridor, *…

A wall projecting 15-30 cm outward from the flat top, *inubashiri 犬走り, of a…

1　Also called *gagyō 丸桁 or gangyō. A round-eave purlin…

Small shrine buildings in an early Kasuga style, *kasuga-zukuri 春日造, that…

1　Also deha 出端. Any architectural member which protrudes, projects, or extends outward. When…

The framing of opaque sliding screens, *fusuma 襖, and translucent sliding…

A one-stepped bracket complex parallel to but separated from the wall by the extension of a rainbow beam, *…

A compound that juts out or is slightly separated from the main components of a castle complex, which include: the main…

Also called de 出.

1　Also called *noki-no-de…

Also debana. A projecting part. An example is the coping that extend past the pillars on either side of a Shinto…

An abbreviated form of idei-no-za 出居座, lit. lodging without, lodging away from the main structure of a residence.…

Also called kujirimayu 抉眉, or shakurimayu 決眉. A type of carved molding, *…

1　Outer citadel. Also tsukejiro 付け城, hajiro 端城, edajiro 枝城. A type of branch…

Lit. three-on-one at right angles. Sometimes called crisscrossed 3-on-1. A bearing block and bracket complex consisting of…

A lecture hall at Hōryūji Tōin 法隆寺東院 (Hōryūji East Compound), dating from about the mid-8th century, the time when the East…

A fixed-hearth, *ro 炉 or *rodan 炉壇,…

Also pronounced dezumi. Also written 出角. The external corner where two walls join to form an angle. The interior…