nokigawara　軒瓦

KEY WORD :　architecture / roofing tiles

1　Also written 宇瓦. Eaves-end tiles. Roof tiles placed along an eaves line, including the semi-circular *nokimarugawara 軒丸瓦, and the bow-shaped broad concave pendant tiles *nokihiragawara 軒平瓦　which are usually covered with a decorative design. They protect the ends of the eaves from rainwater and dampness. See also *tomoegawara 巴瓦, *abumigawara 鐙瓦, *karakusagawara 唐草瓦. 2　Usually written 宇瓦. A classical term for broad eaves-end tiles *nokihiragawara 軒平瓦. According to some scholars eaves-end tiles did not exist in the early years of the Asuka period (552-645); ordinary flat roof tiles were also used along the eaves ends. Broad eaves-end tiles came into use at the beginning of the 7c; these had thick ends and were undecorated. From the mid 7c, hand-engraved palmette patterns *nindoumon 忍冬文 and linear patterns following the curvature of the tile *juukomon nokihiragawara 重弧文軒平瓦 were applied to the gradually broadening eaves end tiles. Both characters, 軒 and 宇, mean 'eaves': is generally used today.

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