In Japanese architecture

Japanese architecture

' originated in prehistoric times with simple pit-houses and stores that were adapted to a hunter-gatherer population. Influence from Han Dynasty China via Korea saw the introduction of more complex grain stores and ceremonial burial chambers....

 the term has two meanings:

• As more commonly used, the term indicates the eaves
  Eaves
  The eaves of a roof are its lower edges. They usually project beyond the walls of the building to carry rain water away.-Etymology:"Eaves" is derived from Old English and is both the singular and plural form of the word.- Function :...
  
   of a roof, that is, the part along the edge of a roof projecting beyond the side of the building to provide protection against the weather.
• The term is however also used in a more specialized sense to indicate the area surrounding the moya
  Moya (architecture)
  In Japanese architecture is the core of a building. Originally the central part of a residential building was called moya. After the introduction of Buddhism to Japan in the 6th century, moya has been used to denote the sacred central area of a temple building. It is generally surrounded by aisle...
  
  (the core of a building) either completely or on one, two, or three sides.

It is common in Zen Buddhist temples where it is a 1 ken

Ken (architecture)

A is a measurement in Japanese architecture. It has two principal uses:* As a proportion for intervals between the pillars of traditional-style buildings. The word is translated in this case in English as "bay". Traditional buildings usually measure an odd number of bays, for example 3×3 or 5×5...

wide aisle-like area and at the same level as the moya. Pagodas called tahōtō also have a hisashi.

Open corridors or verandas under extended or additional roofs are also sometimes referred to as hisashi. In temples constructed in the hip-and-gable style (irimoya-zukuri), the gabled part usually covers the moya

Moya (architecture)

In Japanese architecture is the core of a building. Originally the central part of a residential building was called moya. After the introduction of Buddhism to Japan in the 6th century, moya has been used to denote the sacred central area of a temple building. It is generally surrounded by aisle...

while the hipped part covers the hisashi. The hisashi can be under the same roof as the moya, and be therefore invisible from the outside, or protrude and have a pent roof of its own as for example in the case of many Zen

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...

 main halls

Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism)

Main hall is the term used in English for the building within a Japanese Buddhist temple compound which enshrines the main object of veneration. Because the various denominations deliberately use different terms, this single English term translates several Japanese words, among them Butsuden,...

 (butsuden).

The main purpose of the hisashi is reinforcing the building's structure against side motion. Japanese traditional architecture was based on the post and lintel system, which is intrinsically not very strong. To strengthen it, therefore, an extra row of pillars and relative lintels are added, supporting the moya's walls. The hisashi can be present on just one or all four walls, and is counted with the suffix . A building can for example be said to be a 3 x 3 ken, 4 men butsuden if it is surrounded by a hisashi on all sides.

A butsuden's floor plan

What follows the floor plan of a typical Zen main butsuden such as the one in the photo above at Enkaku-ji in Kamakura

Kamakura, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...

. The core of the building (moya) is 3 x 3 ken and is surrounded on four sides by a 1-ken wide hisashi, bringing the external dimensions of the edifice to a total of 5 x 5 ken. Because the hisashi is covered by a pent roof of its own, the butsuden seems to have two stories, but in fact has only one.

This decorative pent roof which does not correspond to an internal vertical division is called , literally "skirt story" or "cuff story".

The same structure can be found in a tahōtō with the same effect: the structure seems to have a second story, but in fact it does not.