Also read banchiku. A method of making the core of a podium *danjōzumi…

A cantilever. A heavy, rough member used in a hidden roof *noyane …

Lit. a cantilever pillow. A transverse beam supported by the eave purlin *dashigeta…

A beam running at a right angle to the cantilevers *hanegi 桔木, used in a hidden…

Also called hakamagoshi yane 袴腰屋根, or kabutoyane 兜屋根. A style of roof similar to the hipped roof *…

A simple style of balustrade placed around a low, step-like veranda *hamayuka…

The distance between two rafters of this type is equal to the sum of the height of a rafter plus the width of its bottom…

A sliding screen made of a light wooden frame covered with translucent paper. It is about 1 m-1.3 m high. 1.3 m hanshōji…

Also called han-akarishōji 半明障子. A pair of sliding screens with a lattice frame covered with translucent paper *…

Lit. belly. The concave underside, of a curved beam, for example, a curved transverse beam *…

A transverse or cross beam positioned at a right angle to a roof ridge. It stretches the width of a building to receive the…

Also called haritsunagi 梁繋. Tie beams that run parallel to the roof ridge. One is positioned across the upper…

A ceiling which is embellished with wooden squares of different kinds placed in a checker-board pattern. The ribs of a…

Also called kōka 構架. The beam system of a roof.
 

A plain board ceiling. When paper or silk are pasted over the ceiling boards for decorative purposes, the ceiling is called…

Also referred to as *hariyuki 梁行; also written 張り間.…

Transverse beams that run at right angles to lengthwise beams. In Japanese architecture hariyuki usually run the…

Also read kizahashi, kidahashi. Lit. a step, stair, stairway, staircase. Hashi is used to refer…

Also written hashibame 端嵌. Narrow long strips of wood made to cover the top and bottom of doors composed of several…

1　A pent roof built above the stairs on one side of the annex tai-no-ya 対の屋 in aristocratic style…

Also hikakushi-no-ma 日隠の間, hashi-no-ma 階の間, or mihashi-no-ma 御階の間. The space between the posts at…

The generic term for any type of pillar, column, post, pier, and strut, the basic members of Japanese timber architecture.…

A pillar base. A long beam which forms the base for pillars or posts in the upper part of a building.

A generic term in traditional architecture referring to any architectural element with an interior finish found within a bay…

A bay or span. The distance between pillars, measuring from the center of the pillars.

An ancient word meaning the same as *hōdate 方立, a vertical member placed on…

Also read hire-ita but this reading is considered to be incorrect according to the Kaokuzakkō 家屋雑考 (…

Also called hakkaku yane 八角屋根. The eight-sided roof of an octagonal hall *…

The place on a noh stage *nōbutai 能舞台 where three or four musicians sit,…

1　Also read sama-ishi. Rough stones placed between pillar base stones when a building is erected…

Also written 剥板; sogi-ita 殺板, 曽木板.

1　Thin strips of plaited cedar or sawara…

The Heian period (794-1185), during which Heiankyō 平安京 (later, Kyoto) became the political and cultural capital of Japan.…

Heian Imperial Palace, located in the northern part of the Heian Capital. Enclosed by clay walls, buildings included the…

Also hezuke or henzuke 辺付. Thought to be a corruption of a term used in Shōsōin documents Shōsōin…

Rafters laid parallel to each other from the ridge almost to the eave ends. When parallel rafters reach the corner of the…

1　Also *fuse-zu 伏図. The two-dimensional drawing of…

Also written 壁體. The material from which a wall is made, excluding any added exterior veneer or covering. It can also mean…

The arrangement of things (buildings, temples, paintings, sculptures, etc.) chronologically according to historical period…

Also called shirata 白太. Sapwood. The part of a tree trunk miki 幹 that is just beneath the bark juhi…

*Tatami 畳 edging. A cloth border attached to tatami mats. Varieties…

1　A room specifically designated for the use of a particular person or a group of people of the same status…

The edges hata 端 on the sides of grooves, troughs, or channels hi 樋 made in a sill or head jamb. Usually…

1　The pocket-like or box-like space in a fire box or stove *kamado…

Also called konoki daruki 小軒垂木. A flying rafter. A short rafter attached to the base rafter *…

Lit. a flying corner rafter. A flying hip rafter. A short rafter that has the same function as a flying rafter *…

Lit. east mountain culture. The culture of the middle Muromachi period *…

A common name for the bracket arm which forms part of the bearing block and bracket complex, structural elements which…

A box-shaped, latticed window that often extended, demado 出窓, out from a building and was constructed at about…

Also called tsukkaibashira 突支柱, hikaetori 控取, sasaebashira also read *…

The act of sawing square or rectangular timbers on the diagonal to produce two trapezoidal shapes. The timbers themselves…

Also hikichigaido 引違戸. Doors that have two or more translucent screens *shōji…

A generic term for doors or windows which slide horizontally on sill and head jamb tracks. Some open on both sides and move…

Also called ryōbikido 両引戸. Two sliding doors that occupy a single track. When closed, the doors come together in…

A hypotenuse. A mathematically computed straight line stretching from the peak of the ridge to the eave-end and used to help…

1　Also mokei 模型. A miniature or a scaled-down model of a planned work of art. It is usually…

Hineri means to twist, turn, back, or roll. Also written 捻斗; also called onisarato 鬼皿斗. A square or…

Also written 樋貫.

1　Pegs which go through the ridge protecting the boards *…

Also called hira kudari 平降 or *kudarimune 降棟. Descending ridges at…

A simple ceiling made of boards and battens. The battens are thin and rectangular in section and are placed at right angles…

A light, horizontal, rectangular member that is inserted into the corner post between the top and bottom rails of a…

The entrance to a building constructed parallel to the ridge *mune 棟 of the roof…

Also called *hirairi 平入. A style of building that has the main…

Also called funbari 踏張.

1　The degree of incline of a single pillar or of two pillars…

Also shortened to *hiraki 開. A generic term for doors *…

The pitch of a roof on the sides parallel to the ridge.

Also called *mitsudo tokyō 三斗斗きょう. A 3-on-1, non-projecting bracket…

Also called *hirazonae 平備. A bracket complex *…

Also written 平具, and read hirasonae; also called *hiratokyō …

A short strut, post, or prop which has the same width from bottom to top. 
 

A generic term for a deep veranda.

1　A low veranda beyond the main core of a building. In a…

Also written 広庇, 弘廂. Sometimes called *hiro-en 広縁. An extended…

A long, wide, wedge-shaped, horizontal timber placed over the ends of rafters to prevent their deflection and to add support…

Lit. ladle shape. Also read hishakugata or hisagogata 瓢形 (gourd pattern). The shape of the precious jewel…

Also written 庇. The area surrounding the *moya 母屋 or core of a…

Also written 庇柱.

1　The posts used to support the outer extension of a pent roof or the elongated…

A short, curved, non-supporting series of strut-like members used on the under side of eaves to form a transition between…

1　 Diamond- or lozenge-shaped lattice or muntins used on doors, transoms, and fences *…

1　Muntins, diamond shaped in cross section, used in place of vertical bars in some window openings.

…

The single eaves formed by a single row of base rafters found most often on domestic architecture. 
 

A door head or sill with a single groove to accommodate a sliding door. For instance; hitosuji gamoi 一筋鴨居 (a single…

Also called hitotegumi 一手組, hitotesakigumi 一手先組, or *degumi…

A diagonal brace placed across a corner at about a 45-degree angle to the purlins. Sometimes called an angle tie, angle,…

A roof covered with layers of Japanese cypress hinoki 桧 (檜) bark shingles. The shingles are usually 45-60 cm in…

A type of strut found in *shinmei-zukuri 神明造. Several…

Also written 傍立; also called hōdatebashira 方立柱; formerly *hashirayose…

Lit. roof segments flowing down on four sides, also called shichū yane 四注屋根 shihōnagare 四方流. A hipped or…

Also written 方形造; sometimes called the four-part style shichū-zukuri 四注造, or the square style hōkei-zukuri…

1　Also pronounced hōshu. A sacred gem. Usually a ball or tear-drop shape object that is sacred to…

The topmost member of a three-railed balustrade *kōran 高欄, usually round or…

Alsowritten 本家, or read omoya 主屋.

1　The main part of a house.

2　…