Nakazonae

Nakazonae (中備・中具) are decorative intercolumnar struts installed in the intervals between bracket complexes (tokyō) at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Japan.

In origin they were necessary to help support the roof; however, at the end of the 10th century the invention of the hidden roof made them superfluous. They remained in use, albeit in a purely decorative role, and are typical of the Wayō style. The Zenshūyō style used by Zen temples has instead bracket complexes even between posts.

Kentozuka

The simplest of these struts are the kentozuka (間斗束, lit. interval block strut, see photo above) composed of a short post and a bearing block.

Minozuka

Similar to the kentozuka is the fan-shaped strut called minozuka (蓑束, lit. straw raincoat strut) (see gallery), which can have decorations on the two sides called 笈形 (oigata) or a collar-like decoration between post and bearing block. The name comes from its shape, similar to that of a traditional straw raincoat called mino.

Hana-hijiki