Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/110

 eaves, there is, in the larger temples, a columned loggia passing round the two sides and the front of the building, or, in some cases, placed on the facade only. The ceilings of the loggias are generally sloping, with richly carved roof timbers showing below at intervals; and quaintly carved braces connect the outer pillars with the main posts of the building. Some temples are to be seen in which the ceiling of the loggia is boarded flat and decorated with huge paintings of dragons in black and gold. The intercolumniation is regulated by a standard of about six or seven feet, and the general result of the treatment [of columns, wall posts, etc.] is that the whole mural space, not filled in with doors or windows, is divided into regular oblong panels, which sometimes receive plaster, sometimes boarding, and sometimes rich framework and carving or painted panels. Diagonal bracing or strutting is nowhere to be found, and in many cases mortises and other joints are such as to very materially weaken the timbers at their points of connection. In my opinion it is only the immense weight of the roofs and their heavy projections which prevents a collapse of some of these structures in high winds. The principal facade of the temple is filled in one, two, or three compartments with hinged doors, variously ornamented and folding outwards, sometimes in double folds. From these doorways, generally left open, the interior light is principally obtained, windows, as we generally understand the term, being rare. In some of the more important buildings, however, a method is followed of filling in the chief compartments of the front and sides with large movable latticed shutters in two halves, the upper half being hinged at the top so that it can be raised and attached on the outside to metal rods hung from the eaves. A striking peculiarity of all Japanese buildings is that direct light from the sky is rarely