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wood in the form of the letter X, which rest on the ridge of the roof like a pack-saddle on a horse’s back, to make use of a Japanese writer’s comparison[1]. The logs which kept the two trees laid on the ridge in their place have taken the form of short cylindrical pieces of timber tapering towards each extremity, which have been compared by foreigners to cigars. In Japanese they are called Katsuo-gi, from their resemblance to the pieces of dried bonito sold under the name of Katsuo-bushi. The two trees laid long the roof over the thatch are represented by a single beam, called Munaosae, or ‘roof presser.’ Planking has taken the place of the mats with which the sides of the building were originally closed, and the entrance is closed by a pair of folding doors turning, not on hinges, but on what are, I believe, technically called “journals.” The primeval hut had no flooring, but we find that the shrine has a wooden floor raised some feet above the ground, which arrangement necessitates a sort of balcony all round, and a flight of steps up to the entrance. The transformation is completed in some cases by the addition of a quantity of ornamental metal-work in brass.
All the buildings which form part of the two temples of Isé are constructed in this style, so disappointing in its simplicity and perishable nature. I am acquainted with but few other similar shrines. There are the shrine to the gods of Isé on the Nogi hill, and that of Ôtô no miya at Kamakura. None but those which are roofed with thatch are entitled to be considered as being in strict conformity with the principles of genuine Shintô-shrine architecture.
The Shôden of the Gékû is thirty-four feet in length and nineteen in width. Its floor, which is raised about six feet from the ground, is supported on wooden posts planted in the earth. A balcony three feet in width runs right round the building, and carries a low balustrade, the tops of whose posts are carved into the shape called hôshi no tama. A flight of nine steps fifteen feet in width
- ↑ Vide drawings on p. p. 112 and 2 in vol. VI. of the Katahisashi.
