Nakazonae (中備・中具 ) are decorative intercolumnar struts installed in the intervals between bracket complexes (tokyō) at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Japan.[1]
In origin they were necessary to help support the roof, however at the end of the 10th century the invention of the hidden roof[note 1] made them superfluous.[2] They remained in use, albeit in a purely decorative role, and are typical of the Wayō style. The Zenshūyō style used by Zen temples has instead bracket complexes even between posts.
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The simplest of these struts are the kentozuka (間斗束 lit. interval block strut , see photo above) composed of a short post and a bearing block.[3]
Similar to the kentozuka is the fan-shaped strut called minozuka (蓑束 , lit. straw raincoat strut) (see gallery), which can have decorations on the two sides called 笈形 (oigata ) or a collar-like decoration between post and bearing block. The name comes from its shape, similar to that of a traditional straw raincoat called mino.[4]
A variant of the kentozuka is the hana-hijiki (花肘木 ), composed by either one or two horizontal series bearing blocks standing over an elaborately carved floral pattern.[1]
The warizuka (割束 ) strut consists of a wooden inverted V topped by a bearing block.[3]
The kaerumata (蛙股・蟇股 lit. frog legs ) was named after its shape, resembling a frog's splayed legs.[1]
Its origins are not known with certainty, but it may be an evolution of the warizuka.[1] Invented during the 12th century, it became gradually more and more elaborate, to the point where in the Edo period the strut itself would be hidden behind the decorations.[1]
Two basic types exist. In the case of the sukashi-kaerumata (透蟇股 ), the space above and between the frog legs is either empty or carved. In the case of the ita-kaerumata (板蟇股 ), the space between the legs has completely disappeared, leaving behind a solid board with an external frog-leg profile.[5]
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