In the new Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, there is a whole little
tea room, built by a Man named Sano, from Kyoto (he has also built tea
rooms for museums in Kyoto). Among all the familiar and less familiar
names of the parts of the tea house is "tokobashita." It is a sturdy
pine tree--or part of a pine tree, going from floor to ceiling,
between the tea master's space and the tokonoma. WHAT IS IT? It looks
like some sort of axis mundi--but that's just a guess. Can you tell
me?

         Julie Vognar (rvognar01@attbi.com)

Dear dickon,

As my research revealed, the correct transcription of the Japanese
term for this special pillar is "tokobashira" or "toko bashira".
Literally, it means nothing but "alcove pillar", referring to the
"tokonoma", a niche or an alcove in a Japanese home for displaying a
flower arrangement(kakemono) or other piece of art, usually in the
house's tea room.
The symbolic meaning of the tokobashira is less esoteric than one
might think: The Tokobashira is the main symbol of the house and is
the first upright to be placed when the house is built. Therefore, the
tokobashira is chosen with special care. Traditionally, it is a cedar
beam, carefully stripped from its bark in hot steam, so the wood's
natural structure is preserved. But other kinds of wood and other
shapes are also in use.
In a traditional Japanese tea room, the tokobashira defines the
tokonoma's area as does the dais or stand. In the "chaistu", the tea
hut, the tokobashira is usually made from an unplaned trunk of a tree
such as a cherry or cedar.
Apart from its traditional, room-defining, and esthetic qualities, a
tokobashira does not fulfill a task in the house's statics; it is not
a pillar that bears weight.

Sources:

University of Seoul: Matsukaze, by Kanze Kiyotsugu Kan'ami, Kanze
Motokiyo Zeami, and Royall Tyler
http://www.drama21c.net/class/japan/matsukaze2.htm

TeaHyakka: Tea Ceremony - Tokonoma
http://www.teahyakka.com/tokonomaE.html

The Yoshino Newsletter: Elements of a Traditional Japanese Interior
http://www.yoshinoantiques.com/Interior-article.html

San Diego Japanese Friendship Garden: Exhibit House Tour
http://www.niwa.org/ExHouse.html

The Way of Wood: Japanese Interior
http://www.cabinetmaker.de/japaneseinterior.html

Bartleby Dictionary: Tokonoma
http://www.bartleby.com/61/18/T0251800.html

Woodworking.de: Japanisches Zimmer, by Harald Welzel 
http://www.woodworking.de/welzel.htm

Zen Notiziario: Luogo e non luogo, by Matteo Barbieri
http://www.fudenji.it/pagine/Notiziario/2001v8n4/2001vol8n4%20-%20luogo%20e%20non%20luogo.htm

Architecture Urbanisme Design: La oshita libre
http://perso.cybercable.fr/mgdlb/Art%20intemporel%20au%20Japon/N3artjapon.html

Search terms used:
bashita
://www.google.de/search?q=bashita&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&start=20&sa=N
tokobashira
://www.google.de/search?q=tokobashira&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&start=0&sa=N
"tokobashira" symbol
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22tokobashira%22+symbol&meta=
"toko alcove"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22toko+alcove%22&meta=
tokobashira
http://www.alltheweb.com/search?q=tokobashira&c=web&cs=utf-8&o=0

Hope this answers your question!
Best regards,
Scriptor

Only one thing was not clear: the tokobashira (too bad I spelled it
wrong!) is not excatly IN the tokonoma (as i saw from the pictures),
but in front of it, at one side, going all the way down to the floor.
Your failure to mention "red pine"--although it's the right
color--does leave me wondering a little whether it is a proper wood
for the purpose.
                                    Thank you so much!