| Lit.
monkey headpost. A general term for timber members of pentagonal cross-section,
created by chamfering away the upper corners of a rectangle to create a
triangular or pointed top which can shed water easily. It is used where
long timber members may be exposed to the elements, for instance the rails
of balustrades rankan 欄干, and in gates. The pointed side usually
faces the elements. Much used, too, for the ridge pieces *munagi
棟木, and transverse bracing members of a type of used for roofed fences yanetsuki
itabei 屋根付板塀, small roofs *koyane
小屋根, or sunshade pent roofs hiyokebisashi 日除け廂. The board roofs
are made of from two, three or four overlapping strips of boarding, and
the sarugashira, which are planted on top to hold the boarding in
place, accordingly, have a stepped profile. When used for a roof with a
varying pitch, the sarugashira pitch also changes. They are a feature
of the street facades of urban vernacular residences *machiya
町家, at inn towns *shukubamachi
宿場町, especially in the Kiso 木曾 region of Nagano prefecture, where they form
the top of a koyane usually associated with *hanedashi
nikai はね出し二階. Slender iron chains extend from a position close to
the top of the posts of the hanedashi nikai to the end of
every 2nd or 3rd sarugashira, and from these the koyane is
effectively suspended. The name may have derived from the visual effect
of the slightly projecting ends of sarugashira used on pent or fence
roofs, which may be said to resemble a row of monkeys' heads. |
