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

Lit. "tree of immortals." A tree associated with Mt. Penglai *Hōraisan 蓬莱山,…

Also called gokūsho 供御所 or goryōya 御料屋; also nieden or niedono 贄殿. The place where…

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…

The junction of two lengths of a purlin that are set into the top of a post. The line of the joint is centered to coincide…

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

A lantern type that was designed after the Edo period for exclusive use for votive lights at shrines; it is not used for…

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 *…

Also written 紫折戸. Lit. "broken branch door." A type of wicket *kido 木戸 used at…

Lit. "salt glazed tile." A process used to frost-proof roofing tiles. A small quantity of salt is thrown on to the…

Also called shiribasami tsugi 尻挟継 or obasami tsugi 尾鋏継. A blind, stubbed, housed, rabbeted, oblique, scarf…

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.

Lit. "white-brown color." Also shiracha 白茶. A light brown color.

Lit. "shirakawa stone." A type of granite quarried from the Shirakawa 白川 area north of Kyoto. Soft and easily…

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…

To paint a surface with plaster *shikkui 漆喰, or a plastered surface.

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…

The process of castle construction, from site selection to the layout of the compound. Early modern military technicians…

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…

Also goryō torii 御陵鳥居, shiroki torii 白木鳥居 or *shimaki torii…

A style of nosing *kibana 木鼻 carved to resemble the head and…

1　Lit. "lion-mouth tile." An ornamental tile placed on each end of a main ridge, instead of the more common…

1　A large window in the front wall frame of a principal living room *…

A private residence for high-ranking priests within the confines of a Buddhist temple. During the Heian period, this type of…

Also pronounced the kafuku setchin. A functional toilet placed in the outer tea garden *…

A temporary shed used by carpenters, stone masons, and plasterers to prepare structural members for a building. Often parts…

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

Also written 助枝窓. Also called nurisashimado 塗さし窓, nurinokoshimado 塗残し窓, kakisashimado 掻さし窓. A…

1　The lower corners of any beam cut at an angle.

2　The lower corners of the…

Also pronounced shitagi or kaboku. The lower of two or more joined timbers. Shitaki is the…

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. "four guardian kings stones." Four stones placed in each corner of a garden. The stones serve the same apotropaic…

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

A stone entrance gate *torii 鳥居 of the myōjin type *…

Lit. "four guardian king trees." A poetic title referring to the maiden-hair or gingko ichō 銀杏, camphor …

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…

Rafter interval system. A measuring method begun in the mid-13th century used to determine the proportions of a building's…

Lit. "four leaves." Abbreviation of *shiyōza 四葉座. A decorative pattern carved…

Also read yotsubaza. A metal nailhead cover *kugikakushi 釘隠 with…

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

Lit. "natural stone water basins." A generic name for a water basin *chōzubachi…

Lit. "natural stone bridge." A type of stone bridge *ishibashi 石橋 made from…

A special mat for one or more guests, shōban 相伴, who are companions to the guest of honor, shōkyaku…

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

Also pronounced seiden.

1　The center building of a palace, also called omotegoten…

Also seidō.

1　The fare hall or worshipper's hall of a temple, in contrast to the rear hall…

The ornamentation of a Buddhist hall. A Buddhist statue made in a dignified and beautiful style by adding features such as a…

The garden which faces or surrounds the *shoin 書院. No special features are used in shoin…

1　A large reception room developed in the Momoyama period, used by military leaders, daimyō …

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…

Also termed kakubori 角堀 (a moat with squared off ridges), or unebori 畝堀 (the general term for a furrowed…

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

Also read seijōseki, called nozoki-ishi 覗石 or kiyome-ishi きよめ石. Lit. "pure stone."

…

Lit. "plants." The various plants, trees, bushes, and flowers placed in a garden. The term also is used to refer to gardens…

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

Also called shūrō; kanetsukidō 鐘突堂, lit. "bell hitting hall"; and tsuriganedō 釣鐘堂, belfry. A…

Also read shūrōmon. A two-storied temple gate in which a bell is hung, often found in Tendai 天台 sect temples. A…

A hall dedicated to the soul of Shōtoku Taishi (see *Shōtoku Taishi-zō 聖徳太子像) at…

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

Lit. "small shaku 尺." An ancient unit of length. Introduced in the Taihōryō 大宝令 codes of 701, it measured 29.6 cm,…

Meaning genuine tree. The term was coined in the middle Edo period to refer to the dominant or master tree in a garden.…

Also called Sōen-in 倉垣院. A treasure storehouse *hōko 宝庫 with a raised floor at…

Originally, a waterfall in nature. With the rise of dry waterfalls *karetaki…

Lit. "master tree." The tree planted on the top, front of a garden hill *tsukiyama…

The upper and lower rim on a broad, concave, eave-end tile *nokihiragawara…

Lit. "guardian tree." One name given to the main tree planted in the middle of a flat garden hiraniwa 平庭. The term…

A measure of height for a Buddhist statue based on shūjaku 周尺, a unit of measure used in Zhou dynasty China (1 …

A type of settlement or township which developed along major trunk roads during the medieval and early modern periods,…

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

Lit. "shrunken scenery." The imitation of a famous scenic spot meisho 名所 in a garden through the creation of a…

A vernacular house *minka 民家, in the style known as *…

1　A term for a style of vernacular residence *minka 民家, with…

An altar made of fine timber, generally with panelling, hame 羽目, and rich moldings at its top and bottom.…

Lit. "Mt. Sumeru type stone arrangement." A grouping of stones which expresses Mt. Sumeru *Shumisen…

A raised bead, nipple or seed motif that became a common part of the decoration on the pendant tiles *…

Lit. "main stone." The stone at the center of a stone arrangement *ishigumi…

One story of a building or a counter for the number of roofs on a pagoda *tō 塔. A…

A small, rustic style tea ceremony structure up to 4 1/2 mats *yojōhan 四畳半,…

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…

A plain, single-petaled, stylized lotus pattern found on the pendant *gatō…

Plain, unembellished flower petals used especially to decorate the pendants *gatō…

Also written 僧坊. Buddhist priests', monks' or nuns' living quarters in the 7th-8th century. One of the seven buildings…

Lit. "sleeve."

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

Lit. "sleeve fence." A narrow fence which may serve to screen off some garden element or may be completely ornamental.…