Bamboo Shoot Grain

A tea room is such a calming space.
When you sit in the seiza position, your center of gravity lowers, stabilizing both mind and body.
I entered the tea room and looked at the tokonoma (alcove), which is meant for viewing the hanging scroll and flowers.
After my mind settled, I slowly looked around the entire tea room.
I was filled with admiration as I encountered the various meticulous details of the sukiya carpenter, from the alcove to the ceiling.

In the tokonoma, there is what is called a tokobashira (alcove pillar). Various types of wood are used for these pillars, and they are places filled with the host's sentiments. And, when you look at the lower part of this pillar,there is often a "bamboo shoot" or "bamboo shoot grain."A "bamboo shoot" refers to a beveled surface cut diagonally and broadly at the base of the pillar where it meets the tatami, used when the pillar is too thick and would otherwise overlap the tatami. It is said that the rule is to make the height 2 to 2.5 times the diameter of the pillar and to have an odd number of wood grain patterns appear.
While the practical purpose of the "bamboo shoot" is to prevent the pillar from overlapping the tatami, it seems it also held prayers for the family, such as "may the children of the house grow up healthy" and "may the house prosper," much like a bamboo shoot.

Staggered shelves in the tokonoma. The upper shelf has a fude-gaeshi (brush guard) to prevent brushes from rolling off, and it is used to place brushes, crowns, or incense burners. The lower shelf is for placing eboshi (court caps), scrolls, and inkstone boxes.
The name of the post connecting these staggered shelves is called an "ebi-zuka" (shrimp post) or "hina-zuka" (doll post). It is unclear why they are named after shrimp or dolls, but they are interesting names. Although these are small, short posts, they are crafted with the careful work of a sukiya carpenter.
The triangular notch on the corner of the ebi-zuka is called "kichomen." This is the name of a detail used on the pillars of kicho (partition screens) in the Heian period. Because this kichomen was crafted so carefully, the term came to describe a person who is orderly and serious.

The photo shows a shoin-style tokonoma. Can you see the square hole at the bottom left of the alcove? This is called a "chin-kuguri" (chin-pass). A "chin" is a small dog breed native to Japan. The name comes from the gap being large enough for a chin to crawl through. This suggests that the chin was a dog loved by lords and nobles in that era.
The original purpose of creating a chin-kuguri in the tokonoma was to allow light taken in from the shoin window to reach the back of the lower side of the staggered shelves. The staggered shelves are built higher on the side closer to the tokonoma. This is so that the light taken in from the chin-kuguri is not blocked.