File:JapanHomes082 BAMBOO RIDGE OF THATCHED ROOF IN MUSASHI.jpg

English: From original book: "one may often notice at the end of the ridge in the thatched roofs in the country the Chinese character for water deeply cut in the straw and blackened (fig. 82), — and this custom, I was told, originated in a superstition that the character for water afforded a protection against fire... A very neat and durable ridge (fig. 82) is common in Musashi and neighboring provinces. This ridge is widely rounded. It is first covered with a layer of small bamboos; then narrow bands of bamboo or bark are bent over the ridge at short intervals, and these are kept in place by long bamboo-strips or entire bamboos, which run at intervals parallel to the ridge. These are firmly bound down to the thatch. In some cases these outer bamboos form a continuous layer. The ends of the ridge, showing a mass of projecting thatch in section, are abruptly cut vertically, and the free border is rounded in a bead-like moulding and closely bound by bamboo, appearing like the edge of a thick basket. This finish is done in the most thorough and workman-like manner. It is upon the truncate end of this kind of a ridge that the Chinese character for water [would be 水, but looks more like a mangled "みつ" (hiragana)] is often seen, allusion to which has already been made."