kirizuma-zukuri (an architectural style) (切妻造)
kirizuma-zukuri, one of the roof styles, indicates the style of roof with two surfaces inclining from the ridge at the top, or having the shape of a book placed with its face on the lower side. In a broad sense, this term indicates a building with any roof of this style. The term Kirizuma-yane is also used for the same meaning.
Hira iri (concerns an entrance) and Tsuma iri (concerns an entrance)
Concerning the name of each side of a building, the longer side or the side parallel to the ridge is called Hira, and the shorter side or the side perpendicular to the ridge is called Tsuma.
Concerning Japanese shrines, temples, or merchant houses remaining along old roads, it is said that a building is made in the "Hirairi" style or the "Tsumairi" style. This is a classification of buildings based on which side its main entrance is provided. A building with its main entrance on the "Hira" side is called a Hirairi style building. A building with its main entrance on the "Tsuma" side is called a Tsumairi style building.
妻 (tsuma), which originates in 端 (tsuma), which indicates an end relative to the center or core of a building, and 妻, meaning wife, has come to be used, because the wife used to live in a room on the Tsuma side. The "Tsuma of sashimi (sliced raw fish)," a typical appendage to a dish, is provided with the same meaning.
Ketayuki and Harima (each a term concerning a roof)
Keta means the straight pieces of wood that are placed parallel to the ridge at the top of a building (parallel to the Hira side) and support the weight of the roof. The length of the pieces of wood is called Ketayuki and their direction "ketayuki-hoko." Keta play the role of transferring the weight of the roof to the tops of the pillars and are placed parallel to the ridge wood.
On the other hand, the straight pieces of wood placed perpendicular to a ridge wood and Keta (or parallel to the Tsuma side) are called Hari (in building terms). The length of Hari is called Harima and the direction Hariyuki or Harima direction.
Kiritsuma roofs in shrines and temples
In shrine and temple buildings, the roofs of the main halls are mostly built in the Kiritsuma style or the Nagare-zukuri style, a variant of the Kiritsuma style.
Ridges
In shrine and temple buildings, straight pieces of wood called Katsuogi are placed on the ridge wood provided at the top of a roof, to press and fix the roof.
(See the figure on the right)
In shrine and temple buildings, the gable boards of the gables covering slanting pieces of wood on the Tsuma sides are extended and protrude from the roof, and the protruding portions are called Chigi.
(See the figure on the right)
It is popularly said that, if the tops of chigi of a shrine are cut horizontally, a female god is enshrined there, and if they are cut vertically, a male god is enshrined there.