JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE

History of Architecture 03

A synthesis of seminal ideas from China and native conditions producing a distinctive style characterized by:

Lightness

Delicacy

Refinement

Shinto Architecture Japanese Architecture – Continuation

1. Torii - Shinto gate 2.Stone stairs 3.Sandō - the approach to the shrine 4.Chōzuya or temizuya - fountain to cleanse one's hands and face 5.Tōrō - decorative stone lanterns 6. Kagura-den - building dedicated to Noh or the sacred kagura dance 7. Shamusho - the shrine's administrative office 8. Ema - wooden plaques bearing prayers or wishes 9. Sessha/massha - small auxiliary shrines 10. Komainu - the so-called "lion dogs", guardians of the shrine 11. Haiden - oratory 12. Tamagaki - fence surrounding the honden 13. Honden - main hall, enshrining the kami. On the roof of the haiden and honden are visible chigi (forked roof finials) and katsuogi (short horizontal logs), both common shrine ornamentations.

Shrine buildings can have many different basic layouts, usually named either

after a famous shrine's honden (e.g. hiyoshi-zukuri, named after Hiyoshi Taisha),

or a structural characteristic (e.g. irimoya-zukuri, after the hip-and gable roof it

adopts.)

The suffix -zukuri in this case means "structure“

The honden's roof is always gabled, and some styles also have a veranda-like aisle

called hisashi (a 1-ken wide corridor surrounding one or more sides of the core of a

shrine or temple). Among the factors involved in the classification, important are the

presence or absence of:

• hirairi or hirairi-zukuri

A style of construction in which the building has its main entrance on the

side which runs parallel to the roof's ridge (non gabled-side). The shinmei-zukuri,

nagare-zukuri, hachiman-zukuri, and hie-zukuri belong to this type.

• tsumairi or tsumairi-zukuri

A style of construction in which the building has its main entrance on the

side which runs perpendicular to the roof's ridge (gabled side). The taisha-zukuri,

sumiyoshi-zukuri, ōtori-zukuri and kasuga-zukuri belong to this type.

1. SHINMEI-ZUKURI A style of Shinto shrine embodying the

original style of Japanese building, before the introduction of Buddhism.

Characterized by: • A small unpainted rectangular structures

raised above ground level on a posts inserted directly into the earth.

• A railed veranda surrounds the structure at floor level

• A freestanding post at each gable end supports the ridge

• The badge boards extend outward from the thickly thatched roof, forming CHIGI at each end.

2. NAGARE-ZUKURI A style of Shinto shrine, based on the Ise

prototype, but with the front slope of the roof extending to form a canopy over the entrance stair, this space eventually developed into a prayer room for worshippers.

Ise Grand Shrine is the holiest of Shinto Shrines.

3. KASUGA-ZUKURI A style of Shinto shrine, characterized by a

hipped roof extending from the main roof, over a centrally placed entrance stair at one gable end.