Rain shutters

A door used on the exterior openings of a house, such as on the veranda. Its purpose is to protect against wind and rain, be safe at night, and keep warm. In the 16th century, sliding wooden doors were erected between the pillars of the veranda, but in the 17th century, a style was developed in which doors with door pockets were attached and the doors were erected on the threshold and lintel of a single groove. The oldest surviving example is in the Ninomaru Palace of Nijo Castle. Since the Edo period, many areas have used a style in which doors are dropped into the pillars from above in front of townhouses. In this case, the door is fitted behind the upper joinery. Wooden doors used to have boards attached to the outside of the kamachi and san, but now they are made of metal for fire prevention, and many have heat-insulating material attached to the inside. The style remains the same, with a single threshold and lintel, and a place to store the door, but there are now ingenious designs such as horizontally sliding shutter-like doors and those that fold up like a folding screen. In the case of wooden doors, a monkey (a piece of material that moves up and down and is attached to the top and bottom frames and sashes of the door, which is pushed into a small hole in the threshold or lintel when the door is closed to stop the door moving) is used on the last piece closest to the door pocket to lock the door. In high-quality work, the vertical frames are grooved and interlocked with each other, and connected with a horizontal monkey. An oak board is sunk into the threshold to improve sliding and reduce wear.

[Hirai Sei]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

縁先など家の外回りの開口部に用いる戸。風雨に対する保護、夜間の用心、保温を目的とする。16世紀には縁先の柱間に建てられた引き違いの板戸であったが、17世紀に入って戸袋(とぶくろ)をもち、一本溝の敷居、鴨居(かもい)に建てる形式がつくられた。二条城二の丸御殿(ごてん)のものが現存するもっとも古い例である。町屋(まちや)の店先では、江戸時代以来、柱間に上から落とし込む形式を用いている地域が多い。この場合、戸は上部の指物(さしもの)裏に収める。板戸は框(かまち)と桟(さん)の表に板を張っていたが、現在は防火のため金属製となり、保温材を内側に張ったものが多い。形式も一筋の敷居、鴨居で、戸を収める場所をもつことは変わらないが、横引きのシャッター状のもの、屏風(びょうぶ)式に畳むものなどがくふうされている。板戸の場合、戸締りには戸袋に近い最後の1枚に猿(さる)（戸の上下の框、桟につけた上下する材で、戸を閉じたとき敷居あるいは鴨居の小穴に押し込んで戸を動かなくする）を用いる。上等な仕事では、竪框(たてがまち)を凹凸にしゃくって互いにかみ合わせ、横猿でつなぐ。敷居には、滑りをよくし摩耗を少なくするため樫(かし)の板を沈める。

［平井　聖］

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