Tokyō (architecture)
Japanese architectural element / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tokyō (斗栱・斗拱, more often 斗きょう)[note 1] (also called kumimono (組物) or masugumi (斗組)) is a system of supporting blocks (斗 or 大斗, masu or daito, lit. block or big block) and brackets (肘木, hijiki, lit. elbow wood) supporting the eaves of a Japanese building, usually part of a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine.[1] The use of tokyō is made necessary by the extent to which the eaves protrude, a functionally essential element of Japanese Buddhist architecture. The system also has an important decorative function. The system is a localized form of the Chinese Dougong that has evolved since its arrival into several original forms.
In its simplest configuration, the bracket system has a single projecting bracket and a single block, and is called hitotesaki. If the first bracket and block group support a second similar one, the whole system is called futatesaki, if three brackets are present it is called mitesaki, and so on until a maximum of six brackets as in the photo to the right.
Each supporting block in most cases supports, besides the next bracket, a U-shaped supporting bracket set at 90° to the first (see photos in the gallery below).
The Protection of Cultural Properties logo (see gallery below) represents a tokyō, considered an element of Japanese architecture which stands for the continuity in time of cultural property protection.