A Guide to Kyoto’s Wooden and Traditional Architecture
In Japanese temples and shrines, you can often see beams that are slightly curved and tapered at the end. Given its resemblance to a rainbow, they are called as such in Japanese – a kouryou (虹梁). At the entrance of Ninnan-ji goten complex (仁和寺宸殿) you can see the double rainbow tie beams underneath the roof structure, with the aptly named frog-leg struts, or kaerumata (蟇股) between the lower main rainbow beam (大虹梁) and the upper secondary rainbow beam (二重虹梁).
Even though Suikoushya International Craft School is now up and running in France, our Kyoto workshop will still continue to operate and we want to welcome you when you’re in Kyoto!
Here in Kyoto you can explore the many different wooden architectural treasures of Japan!
A kouryou (虹梁) at the entrance of Ninnan-ji goten complex (仁和寺宸殿)
