File:JapanHomes088 CREST OF THATCHED ROOF IN MIKAWA.jpg

English: From original book: "A very picturesque form of ridge occurs in the province of Mikawa; the roof is a hip-roof, with the ridge-roof having a steep slope trimmed off squarely at the eaves. On this portion strips of brown bark are placed across the ridge, resting on the slopes of the roof; a number of bamboos rest on the bark, parallel to the ridge; on the top of these, stout, semi-cylindrical saddles, sometimes sheathed with bark, rest across the ridge, with an interspace of three or four feet between them. Fig. 88 represents a roof with three of these saddles, which is the usual number. These saddles are firmly bound to the roof, and on their crests and directly over the ridge a long bamboo is secured by a black-fibred cord, which is tied to the ridge between each saddle. The smoke-outlet at the end of the ridge-gable is protected by a mass of straw hanging down from the apex of the window, in shape and appearance very much like a Japanese straw rain-coat. The smoke filters out through this curtain, though the rain cannot beat in."