Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/111

 obtained, owing to the lowness of the openings and the great projection of the eaves. An elaborate cornice of wooden bracketing crowns the wall, forming one of the principal ornaments of the building. The bracketing is arranged in groups placed immediately over the pillars and at certain intermediate intervals, the intervening spaces being variously decorated. The whole disposition of pillars, posts, brackets, and rafters is harmonically arranged according to some measure of the standard of length. A very important feature of the facade is the portico or porch-way, which covers the principal steps and is generally formed by producing the central portion of the main roof over the steps and supporting such projection upon isolated wooden pillars braced together near the top with horizontal ties, curved, moulded, and otherwise fantastically decorated. Above these ties are the cornice brackets and beams, corresponding in general design to the cornice of the walls, and the intermediate space is filled with open carvings of dragons or other characteristic forms.

The forms of roof are various, but mostly they commence in a steep slope at the top, gradually flattening towards the eaves so as to produce a slightly concave appearance, this concavity being rendered more emphatic by the tilt which is given to the eaves at the four corners. The appearance of the ends of the roofs is half hip, half gable. Heavy ribs of tile-cresting with large terminals are carried along the ridge, hip, and along the slope of the gable. The result of the whole is very picturesque, and has the advantage of looking equally satisfactory from any point of view.

The interior arrangement of wall columns, horizontal beams, and cornice bracketing corresponds with that on the outside. The ceiling is invariably boarded,