karahafu
Sign in to savethumb|250px|Drawings of a kara-hafu is a type of curved gable found in Japanese architecture. It is used on Japanese castles, Buddhist temples, and Shinto shrines. Roofing materials such as tile and bark may be used as coverings. The face beneath the gable may be flush with the wall below, or it may terminate on a lower roof.
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- Kara-hafu
- name in kana
- からはふ
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thumb|250px|Drawings of a kara-hafu is a type of curved gable found in Japanese architecture. It is used on Japanese castles, Buddhist temples, and Shinto shrines. Roofing materials such as tile and bark may be used as coverings. The face beneath the gable may be flush with the wall below, or it may terminate on a lower roof.
==History== Although kara (唐) can be translated as meaning "China" or "Tang", this type of roof with undulating bargeboards is an invention of Japanese carpenters in the late Heian period. It was named thus because the word kara could also mean "peculiar" or "elegant", and was often added to names of objects considered grand or intricate regardless of origin. The karahafu developed during the Heian period and is shown in picture scrolls to decorate gates, corridors, and palanquins. The first known depiction of a karahafu appears on a miniature shrine ('') in Shōryoin shrine at Hōryū-ji in Nara.