The general structure is almost always the same: posts and lintelssupport a large and gently curved roof, while the walls are paper-thin, often movable and never load-bearing. Arches and barrel roofs are completely absent. Gableand eave curves are gentler than in China and columnar entasis(convexity at the center) limited.

The kiritsuma (open gable, right) is the simplest style, with the roof sloping from the ridge down to the eaves on two sides, forming two triangular gables at the narrow ends of the house. The yosemune (hipped roof, centre) has four sides sloping down from the ridge to the eaves, and has no gables.

The various roofs in Japanese architecture look similar at first glance, but they can actually be distinguished into three categories: kirizuma-zukuri (gable roof), yosemune-zukuri (hip roof), and irimoya-zukuri (hip-and-gable roof). Of course, Japanese-style roofs are not only designed to look good.