kiwari　木割

KEY WORD :　architecture / general terms

Lit. wood-cutting. Also kikudaki 木砕. A system for measuring out the wooden components to be used in architecture or statuary. Kiwari was originally the first step in calculating required wood-block sizes before cutting (see *kidori 木取). However, it developed to include rules used in the assembly stages. In architecture the dimensions of the rafters *taruki 垂木 are taken as the basic unit, and the proportions of the bays, projecting eaves and so on, are then calculated according to a formula based on the size of the rafter. This formula is specific to the building in question, and does not have a fixed length or ratio. This formula is known as kiwari. When making a sculpture from a number of separate parts (see *yoseki-zukuri 寄木造), kiwari refers to calculating the dimensions of these parts in relation to one another. In the Heian period each sculptor used his own kiwari measurements, but by the Edo period they were largely standardized . Books describing kiwari are known as kiwarisho 木割書.

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