Tokyō (architecture)

Tokyō (斗栱・斗拱, more often 斗きょう) (also called kumimono (組物) or masugumi (斗組)) is a system of supporting blocks (斗 or 大斗, masu or daito, lit. block or big block) and brackets (肘木, hijiki, lit. elbow wood) supporting the <a href="/facts/Eaves/qrtJv53K">eaves</a> of a Japanese building, usually part of a <a href="/facts/Buddhist_temples_in_Japan/3JkdD0Jz">Buddhist temple</a> or <a href="/facts/Shinto_shrine/mGpmoVf1">Shinto shrine</a>. The use of tokyō is made necessary by the extent to which the eaves protrude, a functionally essential element of <a href="/facts/Japanese_Buddhist_architecture/v5Rrgr3d">Japanese Buddhist architecture</a>. The system also has an important decorative function. The system is a localized form of the Chinese <a href="/facts/Dougong/fX8tUoDr">dougong</a> that has evolved since its arrival into several original forms.
In its simplest configuration, the bracket system has a single projecting bracket and a single block, and is called hitotesaki. If the first bracket and block group support a second similar one, the whole system is called futatesaki, if three brackets are present it is called mitesaki, and so on until a maximum of six brackets as in the photo to the right.
Each supporting block in most cases supports, besides the next bracket, a U-shaped supporting bracket set at 90° to the first.

Tokyō (architecture) open-in-new

Tokyō (architecture)