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

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

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 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 *…

Also called keisha uragō 傾斜裏甲, or raking eaves filler. Hidden eave fillers attached to a bargeboard *…

A Noh stage. A stage originally constructed for outdoor performances of *Noh 能, a…

Hidden rafters. Rafters used to construct the roof framework of the main roof of a Japanese building. Hidden rafters have a…

Beams used in a hidden roof framework *noyane 野屋根. Also refers to any beam which is…

Hidden roof framework above a ceiling or above an exposed roof framework.

A type of dramatic performance originating in the 14th century *Muromachi jidai…

Also noura-ita 野裏板, *no-ita 野板. Sheathing that is placed over…

Sheathing. Rough wooden boards nailed on to rafters to make a surface on which roofing material is laid. The boards are…

1　A board placed under the eaves and over the rafters of a traditional Japanese building as sheathing *…

Eave extension or eave overhang measured from the center of a pillar or post to the rafter end. The distance may be from…

Convex struts set under eaves at intervals between the eave purlins *gagyō…

Eaves. The part of a roof that extends beyond the exterior wall of a building. There are single eaves *…

Lit. "eave ends." The eave ends of a tiled roofed building which are usually obscured by decorated pendant tiles *…

A bamboo gutter usually hung by hooks from the end of an eave *nokisaki 軒先, to catch rain…

A generic term for all the parts that compose aneave including: rafters, *taruki…

Also *nokiba 軒端. An eave edge or an eave end. The eave end of a tiled roof kawarayane…

Also kotenjō 小天井. A long narrow ceiling installed under an extended eave. This type of ceiling is constructed…

Bracket complexes which support the eaves.

Also nokishita 軒下. The underside of an eave *noki 軒, or the overhang of the roof beyond…

Curvature of the eaves. There are two types: shinzori 真反 (true curvature), in which the center eave curves from the…

A ceremony performed before a thatched roof *kayabuki yane 茅葺屋根, is hid.…

Also noji-no-kōbai 野地の勾配. The incline of straight hidden rafters *nodaruki…

Also pronounced nogomai. A lath that is concealed from view. For example thin strips of lath used within the roof…

Hidden purlins used in a hidden roof structure. Visible purlins are called keshō moya 化粧母屋.

Also called nomune 野棟. A hidden ridge. The upper and true ridge in a hidden roof construction, which forms the…

Also none tenjō 野根天井. A board ceiling to which long narrow splints or strips of wood are attached. The ceiling…

1　The incline of a stone wall and castle rampart. Nori ichiwari 法一割, means that for every 1 m of…

Lit. "cool dwelling." Formerly the name used for the priests' quarters at Jingoji 神護寺 (Momoyama period) in Kyoto. Now more…

An archaic term for *taru-no-kuchi 樽の口. Also called …

A hidden roof. The roof structure built above an exposed roof. It has its own support system and hidden rafters that are set…

Also called hizumi 歪 meaning incline or slant. A slight twist inward at the top of a bargeboard or a tilting…

1　An unfinished, unplanned board with a rough surface. See *no-ita …

Lit. "sewing nail."
1　A nail that connects the two parts of a scarf joint *…

A knot hole. A flaw on a timber surface caused by a knot that has fallen out.

1　A penetrating tie beam that extends from one pillar to another inside a temple or shrine building. It has…

Also written 貫孔. The generic term for the opening made in a pillar, strut or any other member into which a penetrating tie…

1　Also called *nunokiso 布基礎. One meter long rectangular base…

Lit. "fabric paving." Pavement formed by square or rectangular stones laid so that a little space is allowed around each.…

Also called renzoku kiso 連続基礎. A type of direct footing that runs diagonally across corners and attaches to the…

The traces left by the pressure of a cloth on a clay surface. The character 痕 ato or kon means a mark left…

Lit. "wet veranda." Also called *ochi-en 落縁, kirime-en 切目縁. A…

A generic term for the process used to build a fire-resistent wall. Typically the wooden structural frame is entirely…

Windows made with plaster-covered lattice, commonly used in merchants' houses *machiya…

Also written 塗回床. An alcove *tokonoma 床の間, with three sides and the wall…

Also nuriatsu 塗厚. Depth of plastering. The ratio between the thickness from the first rough coat applied to the…

Also written 塗り屋, 塗家.

1　A fireproof building in which all the timber surfaces of the structural…

Large wooden shingles which are about 30 cm wide and are laid from the ridge to the eaves. Where the shingles need to be…

A load-bearing structural member. Refers to any structural element which supports the roof including pillars *…

Also called wadaruki 輪垂木. An open ceiling found in Buddhist temples of the Ōbaku 黄檗 sect. The architectural style…

Also called obisando 帯桟戸. A simple wooden door made of thin boards with rails at top and bottom and stiles, left…

Also obiki 尾引. Sleepers about 10 cm sq. that extend horizontally at right angle to posts that are erected on a sill…

A outer veranda constructed a step lower than the adjacent floor. It may also be constructed one step lower than a broad…

The junction point of a horizontal and diagonal structural member. For example, the point where the bottom of the hip rafter…

A tail rafter. A large rafter which usually extends through the second step of a 3-stepped bracket complex *…

Also called da-itabuki 駄板葺. A shingled roof which has bamboo battens and or stones to hold the shingles in place.…

Lit. "praying."
1　Structural elements arranged in such a way as to resemble the image of hands joined in…

Fan rafters. There are two arrangements: those that radiate from a center point on each side of the building; or those that…

A bottle strut *taiheizuka 大瓶束, with a sculptural decoration called …

A wall which is completely plastered so that the pillars or posts are not visible. This method is common for the…

1　A style or method of constructing a wall, in which the basic framework for plastering is made on the…

1　Charming, or delightful. An approach to the aesthetic indicating a carefree appreciation of objects and…

Shogun Ashikaga's 足利 book of tea ceremony implement arrangement, thought to have been written by Sōami 相阿弥 (1455-1525), a…

Also called tate-ezu 建絵図. A fold-up, three-dimensional plan drawn on paper, to show the interior of rooms assembled…

1　The interior or heart of something. The furthermost, innermost or ultimate space in a sequence of spaces…

An inner sanctuary. The part of a temple most remote from the main entrance. An example is the Keikyū-in 桂宮院, at Kōryūji…

Also called uketo 受斗. A bearing block, longer than but shaped very much like the *…

The depth or distance from front to rear of an object, piece of furniture, room, building, plot of land etc. It may be…

A general term for structural members that sustain pressure horizontally. Transverse beams *…

1　A gate mon 門, with multiple pillars with large intervals between them.
One example is…

Lit. "the front, surface, or exterior of something."
1　The front part of a house and the area around the…

Also *mune 棟, *munagi…

The second layer of a plastered wall. The first layer of a plastered wall is made of a rough clay-sod or mud-plaster mixture…

A type of saw horse on which to place timber so that a carpenter can cut it easily. Two posts are sunk directly into the…

Lit. "a big eave." An eave made of long base rafters *jidaruki 地垂木, which is…

An archaic term for a tie beam roughly 3.6 m long by 11 cm wide by 2.5 cm thick. Cedar or cypress were commonly used. Now…

A coved and coffered ceiling. The coved part has curved struts. It surrounds the coffered ceiling and at the same time…

A coved, coffered and finely latticed ceiling. When the height of a ceiling of the same type is increased by curved struts…

A coved ceiling. A ceiling raised by diagonally placed straight timbers *shirin…

Also orioki 折置. Method of assembly in a building's structural frame. A method of fixing a transverse beam *…

Neocene quartz. A type of soft volcanic tuff that is rough, porous and easily worked. It is a light, bluish greenish brown…

1　The board-floor veranda at the top of the steps of a shrine building. The veranda at the bottom of the…

Two or four-circular pillars right and left at each corner of the Buddhist altar to define the most sacred place in a temple…

Also called raigō-heki. A clay or wooden wall erected behind a Buddhist altar *…

Lattice arranged in a fret pattern, used especially on railings of balconies.

A transom. A rectangular opening, longer in the horizontal direction, constructed between the lintels *…

Also called no-ishizumi 野石積. Stones with an irregular shape. Those that are somewhat square are called nozura-…

Also referred to as ranzumi kidan 乱積基壇, ranzō ransekizumi 乱層乱石積, kuzure ishizumi くずれ石積 or simply…