Roof framework composed of struts separating three tiers of transverse beams, each proportionately shortened in length than…

1　Triple shelves. Shelves which now are rarely seen in a tea ceremony room except at Nishihonganji…

A variation on the *yukimi dōrō 雪見灯籠. This type of lantern is found in the…

An unusual lantern style found along the pond at Katsura Rikyū 桂離宮, Kyoto. It is a small, rectangular box-shaped lantern…

Lit. "three-prong pounder motif." Also called *kongōsho 金剛杵 (vajra pounder,…

Also called sanren āchimon 三連アーチ門. A gate with three arches, made within a stone wall.

Also called nenbutsu sanmaidō 念仏三昧堂. Nenbutsu 念仏 prayers are recited, to obtain unity with *…

Priest and monk dormitories constructed to the north, east and west of the lecture hall *…

A miniature shrine characterized by three doors, one placed at the front and one on each side of the structure. It contains…

Also written 山門; often called *sangedatsumon 三解脱門 meaning enlightenment gate. Main gate…

Also called hie torii 日吉鳥居, sōgō torii 総合鳥居, hafu torii 破風鳥居 or gasshō torii 合掌鳥居.…

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

Also kirō 機廊. Small, single-storied, detached buildings on temple grounds constructed on each side of a two-…

Lit. "a place to go into seclusion." A shrine or temple where priests or laymen can retire alone to pray. However, special…

Roof tiles glazed with more than two colors included various tones of brown, yellow and green which were the most commonly…

Lit. "three, four, five." A large size right-angled carpenter's square, ōgane 大矩, with a ratio of 3:4:5 cm. The two…

Lit. "Buddhist triad stone arrangement." The grouping of one large stone with two smaller flanking stones that lean toward…

Lit. "a pole or rod." Aiso written 棹.

1　A lapped rod joint. The stacked tenon *…

A long, lapped, rod-type tenon cut in the end of a rainbow beam *kōryō 虹梁, or…

A batten used to make a board and batten ceiling *saobuchi tenjō 竿縁天井.…

Also written 棹縁天井. A board and batten ceiling. A simple ceiling made of light weight boards laid in one direction over…

Also saotsugi 竿継. Joint with long, rather slender tenons called saohozo 竿ほぞ (rod or pole tenons) and…

Lit. "plate-like bearing block." A relatively flat, wooden block set beneath the large bearing block *…

1　Monkey. The monkey is represented in kyōgen 狂言 by a masked and costumed figure. The monkey mask…

Also called sanbashigo 桟梯子. A ladder made of wood or bamboo placed in an almost vertical position to reach the…

Lit. "monkey head pent roof." A pent roof *hisashi 廂, with pentagonal members…

A ceiling characterized by battens with six sides that are not all the same size. It is similar to a *…

Lit. "monkey door." A type of bolted gate, called a wicket or a *kido 木戸, used at…

1　The pyramidal shaped top of a post on the handrail of a wooden bridge. If there is only a heavy base…

Lit. "monkey headpost." A general term for timber members of pentagonal cross-section, created by chamfering away the upper…

Lit. "monkey's ears." A pair of cleats that did not really resemble monkey's ears but rather the horns of a bull. The cleats…

Lit. "bamboo grass fence." A living fence or hedge made of low-growing, bamboo grass called kumazasa 熊笹, and…

Concave curves carved out of the upper surface of the bracket arms *hijiki…

Lit. "bamboo-grass metal fitting." A long, narrow, metal fitting *kanagu 金具,…

A string, or stringer. The boards set diagonally on each side of a staircase in order to receive the treads fumi-ita…

Also called sasarako bame 簓子羽目. A traditional type of weather board used to cover exterior walls. The overlapping…

A very small common type of memorial stupa that is made of bamboo-grass sasa 笹 and used in many parts of Japan.…

Small, oblong (6-10 cm) or rectangular stones placed in the space below the bamboo wall base kabedomari 壁留り of the…

Lit. "pointing to the alcove." Ceiling battens *saobuchi 竿縁 or thick straw…

Also called sashibari 指梁. The short visible purlins that jut beyond the barge course *…

Also written 差肘木 or 指肘木. One or more bracket arms *hijiki 肘木, inserted into the…

Also called sashikake yane 差掛屋根 or sashidashi 差出. A pent roof, shed roof or lean-to roof covering an…

Also written 差木 or 挿木. A generic term for the joining of timbers at right angle by inserting one into the other, most often…

A generic term meaning to insert, usually a tenon *hozo ほぞ into a mortise *…

Short purlins *keta 桁, about the length of one bay, inserted into the bargeboards…

A short purlin *keta 桁, that extends from the second strut within a hidden roof…

Lit. "insert ridge." Also written 指棟. Short, exposed ridges *keshō munagi…

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 *…

A village castle. A medieval castle built in a low-lying village. Typically furnished with defensive installations.

Lit. "marsh crossing." A path made of stepping stones *tobi-ishi 飛石 placed in…

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

1…

Also ōidō 覆堂, ōiya 覆屋 or tōdō 套堂. Lit. "sheath hall." A building constructed over a shrine or…

A design pattern of interlocking swastikas, manji 万字 (卍). Most sources agree that the term (a contraction of sa…

Also called sansōdō or sasaidō 三匝堂. An hexagonal Buddhist hall constructed with two internal, circuitous…

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 seibyōmon 聖廟門. Lit. "Confucian schoolgate." A 1 x 1 bay, single-story gate with a gable roof *…

Also shifun 蚩吻. A decoration in the shape of a fictional animal found at each end of a main roof-ridge *…

1　Also pronounced seikaiha. A wave design made of the arches of concentric circles superimposed…

Square worship hall. A type of worship hall at a Shinto shrine. The 3 × 3 bay hall is believed to have been derived from a…

Also called Sōjōmon 僧正門. The middle gate in the semi-opened, west corridor at Kasuga Taisha Honsha 春日大社本社 in Nara.…

Also termed seirō yagura 井楼櫓. A watch tower. Seirō were built from the Muromachi to the early…

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

A type of *yakuimon 薬医門. A 1-bay, single-entrance gate with side gates *…

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…

Lit. "stone flag." A type of stone pagoda with a hexagonal or octagonal base, a banner-shaped shaft, dōshin 幢身, a…

A type of stone lantern, ishidōrō 石灯籠. Shaped like a Buddhist memorial *sekidō…

1　Also read ishimon. A gate made almost entirely of stone, seen especially in Okinawa Prefecture.…

Lit. "barrier-keeper stone." A stone placed atop a stepping stone *tobi-ishi…

Also written 石墻門. Lit. "stone wall gate." A gate with either single or triple arch-like openings in a wall made of stacked…

1　An Edo period school of tea ceremony founded by Katagiri Sekishū 片桐石州 (1605-73). Branch schools…

A tea ceremony encyclopedia based on the methods of Katagiri Sekishu 片桐石州 (1605-73), who is believed to have authored 300…

Also read ishitō. A generic term for pagodas or stupas made of stone. It includes multiple-storied stone pagodas…

Lit. "stone made gate."

1　Gates with arched entrances which are found in Okinawa Prefecture and…

Limestone. A type of rock rarely used in gardens because of its soft and transient nature, although it was employed as a…

The execution of a construction project.

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

Also written 賎院. The quarters where the lowliest serfs lived in a Buddhist temple. In ancient Japan, these people were…

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

A style of architecture exemplified by the 2-storied worship hall *haiden 拝殿 at…

Lit. "line pattern." A design pattern found on a slanting strut *shirin 支輪,…

Lit. "glittering green stone." A type of stone similar to granite but containing black granules. Often containing small…

Lit. "spring water." Originally the term referred to spring water running through a garden. In Kyoto, a number of…

A festival held for a building that is to be dismantled and rebuilt, or undergo major repairs. Before construction begins,…

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

A Shinto shrine, second in rank and size to the main shrine honsha 本社, but having a status higher than the *…

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…

An abbreviation of shachisen 車知栓. A draw pin, key or cotter made of hard wood, usually zelkova or oak. The pin is…

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

A hall in which a statue of the historical Buddha *Shaka 釈迦, born in either the mid-6th or mid-…

Also shashike 社司家 or shakeshū 社家衆.

1　A hereditary line of Shinto priests of…

A township composed of *shake 社家, families who held posts (usually hereditary) as…