1 A
style or method of constructing a wall, in which the basic framework for
plastering is made on the exterior face of the uprights. No penetrating
or horizontal timber is used except for the wide horizontal planks, *nuki
貫, set into notched spaces the exact thickness of the boards. Posts with
a small diameter, *mabashira
間柱, are erected between 36cm and 45cm apart between the uprights. Wooden
laths, *kizuri 木摺,
with a rough grain are spaced about 1.2cm apart and hammered into the uprights
with two nails for each piece of lath. Several coats of plaster *shikkui
漆喰, are then applied. The first rough coat is mud plaster *tsuchikabe
土壁, mixed with straw. The succeeding coats are each more refined until the
final coat, which is carefully smoothed. The final coat was usually white,
although cream and black were sometimes used. Ookabe-zukuri was used
as a fireproofing system, similar in principle to the mud-wall structure
*dozou-zukuri
土蔵造, but rather less substantial, as the external plaster coating was only
about 3-5cm thick, measured from the outer face of the posts. Timber members
were usually visible on the inside of the building. Buildings thus constructed
were often referred to as *nuriya
塗屋. The technique was used for the walls, turrets, *yagura
櫓, and keeps, *tenshu
天守, of castles, and for the row houses *nagaya
長屋 and row-house gateways nagayamon 長屋門 surrounding warrior residences.
Its development coincided with advances in techniques of defensive warfare
which occurred in the latter half of the 16c. Every effort was made to ensure
that castles more resistant to both fire and firearms, recently introduced
from Europe. Ookabe-zukuri was also used for folk residences, *minka
民家, especially town houses, *machiya
町家, and their ancillary structures, from the Momoyama period (1568-1615)
onward.
The technique is particularly associated with town houses in western Japan
and the Kansai district. Here, the forms of beams, brackets, cantilevered eave
beams, the ends of rafters, and the frames and lattices, *koushi
格子, of windows are often visible, albeit encased in plaster. Sometimes decorative
elements were introduced; for example, ideograms seen on the facade of the Toyoda
豊田 House 1662, a cultural property in Nara. By the end of the Edo period (1615-1867)
the decoration had become more elaborate and sculptural, and included birds, flowers
or wave motifs, sometimes enhanced with color. The plastering on town houses was
usually confined to the lateral walls and to the upper floor of the front and
rear facades. The timber surface of structural members on the ground floor was
left unplastered. Later town houses sometimes left rafter ends and the underside
of the eaves unplastered.
2 A synonym for mud-wall structures *dozou-zukuri
土蔵造. |
