Japanese traditional architecture - Gatou roof tiles

Visiting Japan, you will surely notice the traditional Japanese roofs, using very specific decorations, like the prominent Oni-gawara roof tiles.

A little less outstanding but with a great visual impact are the disk-shaped end tiles called gatou. Decorated with floral motifs, with the tomoe abstract shape or, most frequently, with the clan's kamon, they have both an aesthetic and a practical role, deflecting the rainwater away from the wall...