JAPANESE

ARCHITECTURE
• The architecture of the civilization that emerged
on the Japanese archipelago off the east coast of
Asia, characterized by synthesis of seminal ideas
from China and native conditions producing a
distinctive style characterized by lightness,
delicacy and refinement.

• Has traditionally been typified by wooden

structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with
tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors (fusuma)
were used in place of walls, allowing the internal
configuration of a space to be customized for
 INFLUENCES

GEOGRAPHICAL

• Japan, with its principal island, Honshiu and

attendant island to north and south, lies off
the eastern coast of Asia, from which it is
separated by the sea of Japan. The eastern
shores of Japan are bounded by the Pacific
Ocean.
GEOLOGICAL

• The prevalence of earth quakes in Japan has had a

profound effect building development practically the
whole of Japan is rugged hill country and some four
fifths of the entire area is occupied by forest and wild
vegetation.

• Bamboo is plentiful, and extensively used in building.

Stone is mainly of volcanic origin and unstratified.

• Granites and porphyries are well represented but

there is death of lime and sandstone.

• Stone is used tor foundation work, or in polygonal

form for the lower portions of walling, upon which
would be erected an upper timber structure.
CLIMATIC
• Japan is influenced by a cold airstream from Asia in
winter, and by the incursion of warm moist air from
the pacific in the summer. The mountainous nature
of the country, in conjunction with the prevailing
airstreams, conduces to exceptionally heavy
rainfall, particularly in the summer.

• Houses wherever possible, face south and deeply

projecting eaves as provided to give protection
against the sun, while high courtyard walls screen
HISTORICAL, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS
• During the Suiko period (A. D. 552-645) Buddhism became
firmly established and the nation tended to become a
bureaucratic state with Chinese laws and ceremonials.
Feudalism at the height in the 13th c., recognized three
groups, the emperor and nobles, the Shoguns with the
military caste, and the people.

• Under the Tokugawa dynasty (1603-18681) the divine

descent of the Emperor was emphasized and actively
promulgated after continual strife, which at times resulted in
civil war, the last of the Shoguns resigned in 1867. A
constitution was formed in 1890 which eventually recognized
the rights of the people.
• Christianity was introduced in 1549 by St.
Francis Xavier. In 1614, all foreign priests were
expelled.

• Shinto was the Chinese name for the indigenous

polydemonism which existed in Japan before the
introduction of Buddhism. The native Shinto faith
was profoundly affected by buddhism, introduced
from the Chinese mainland about A.D. 550
Buddhism encouraged the erection of temples
and its mystic symbolism inspired the artistic
Japanese temperament to the production of
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
• The architecture of Japan was largely derived from China, but
at all times maintained its own special characteristic of
lightness and delicacy. Refinement in Japanese architecture,
combined with minutes in carving and decoration are
particularly noticeable in timber construction.

• The upper part of the roof is terminated by a gable placed

vertically above the end walls, known as an lrimoya gable,
while the lower part of the main roof is carried round the ends
of the building in a hipped form.
• Roof coverings can be thatch, shingles or tiles.
Thatched roofs often have a prominent ridge of tiles with an
exaggerated cresting, or the ridge may be of stout bamboos,
tied with blackened rope and terminated with finials.

• Tiled roofs have flattish and roll tiles alternately, while cover
tiles, often of decorative form are used to mask joints at the
eaves. Ridges and hips are made up of layers of tiles set in
mortar, finished with large moulded tile capping and cresting.

• A lower roof known as "HISASHI" Is sometimes projected

below the eaves of the main roof. Hollowed bamboos are used
to form roof gutters and pipes. Gables ends often have cusped
barge-boards with pendants.
• Curved brackets (Kumo-Hijiki) adorn the underside of the
overhanging eaves.

• Intercolumniation is regulated by the standard of

measurement known as the 'KEN' which is divided into
twenty parts, termed, minutes, and each minute being
again divided into a further twenty two parts or seconds of
space.

• Even when plain, columns are objects of beauty as timber

was split by wedges and smoothed with a spear-shaped plane
known as 'Yariganna' which left a beautiful finish.
•Most houses are constructed of wood-
framing with wood or stout paper infilling,
which in an earthquake shock is much safer
than stone or brick construction.
•Temple walling is a strictly trabeated
arrangement of timber posts and rails dividing
surfaces into regular oblong spaces, filled in
with plaster, boarding, or carved and painted
panels.
*Trabeated - the beam forms the constructive feature
NATIVE JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE
•One of the most primitive and holy of
the Shinto designs, the lzumo
shrineshares with the Yayoi house model
the beetling gables, gable-end entrance
(contrasting) with the Chinese main-
facade entry) and the peculiar round
timbers balanced on the ridge.
 lzumo shrine
Reconstruction of Jomon
dwelling (c. 4000BC): the
roof rests on the ground; the
fire is on the long side.
Reconstruction of Yayoi
dwelling; the roof is
over a wattle screen wall
surrounded by a damp-
excluding ditch.
Yayoi dwellings: Buildings on a
3rd or 4th
A post with
century mirror;
footboard , on
(top to bottom,
top a board wall
left to right)
storehouse,
priest's house,
farmhouse,
ruler’s house.
Varieties of post
footboards
*Camber - slight rise or upward curve
of an otherwise horizontal structure.

*Entasis - a swelling or curving outwards

along the outline of a column shaft
designed to counteract the optical illusion
which give a shaft bounded by street lines
the appearance of curving inside.
• Window-openings are filled with timber trellis and
provided with wooden shutters externally, and
usually rice paper in light sahes, internally, in all
cases, exterior walling is extremely, thin; columns
receive the main load from the roof and wall panels
are entirely non-structural.
• Carved and coloured panels formed in enclosure
walls, in projecting eaves to roofs, and in the
'ramma' or pierced ventilators below cornices are
characteristic. In friezes, panels in high relief occur,
representing cloud forms and objects of natural
beauty.
• Colour decoration is applied to both
exteriors and interiors of Japanese
temples. Beams, brackets and carving
are picked out in gilding and bright
colours-blue, green, purple, madder
and vermillion-paintings depcit animal
forms, insects birds, flowers.
Supporting pillars are usually black,
red, or gold.
EXAMPLES
Temples
• Shinto temples can be distinguished from buddhist by the
characteristic "TORII" or gateways formed by upright posts
supporting two or more horizontal beams, under which, it was
considered, worshippers must pass for prayers
*Shinto-The Indigenous religion of
Japan marked by a cultlic
devotion to
deities of natural forces, ancestor
worship and veneratlon of the
emperor as a descendant of the
Sun-Goddess, Amaterasu.
• Temples usually have a columned loggia, either
round three sided or forming a facade to the main
building. Frequently there is a portico over the
approach steps which rest upon timber columns,
held together at the top by horizontal tie beams.
In large temples and halls, the interior columns
are provided with elaborate compound bracketing
to support the roof.
 
*Loggia - an arcaded or roofed gallery built
into or projecting from the side of a building
particularly one overlooking an open court.
PAGODAS
• Square plan, mostly five-storey and about 45
meters (150 feet) in height. In construction they are
virtually suspended around a central timber, thus
providing a measure of stability against earthquake
shocks.
• The ground storey contains images and shrines,
while the upper storeys serve as 'belvederes'
there are wide projecting roofs to each storey and the
subtle. Curvature distinguishes them from Chinese
examples.
•  
PALACES
• The imperial palaces were of a simple type,
consisting of a principal hall, joined by corridors to
three separate pavilions for the family of the
Emperor. From the sixteenth century, palaces
were protected by walls of masonry, often formed
with a batter, concave on the external face, and
with tilted quoin stones, to resist earthquake
shocks a moat invariably encircled the walls.
TRADITIONAL JAPANESE HOUSE
"A response to nature"
 
• The Japanese love of nature is the single force that
influences life in Japan. The Japanese respect nature,
and to respect nature is to live nature's way.
• So different from the Western concept, Japanese
architecture is largely considered a realistic response
to the natural environment.
• And in Japan's use of wood, no other architecture
reveals so convincingly its structural and aesthetic
qualities.
HOUSES
• Japanese houses are entered through a vestibule
and have a verandah, (“engawa”), living, dining
and guest rooms, with a recess for flowers and art
treasures. There are rooms for hosts and hostess,
but not bedrooms in the usual sense, no distinction
being made between living and sleeping
apartments because all bedding, the threefold
mattress and thick quilt called futon -are stored in
closets during the day. Rooms are regulated in size
by floor mats or 'Tatami' used as floor coverings,
and measuring one 'ken' about 1.8 m (6ft.) by a
• Usually one storey high, with entrance, ante rooms,
living rooms, kitchen (with scullery), called 'daidokoro'
with a big fire place over which to hang a pot. Store
rooms and gardens -a separate small fire-resisting
structure, known as a 'go-down', is built for storage of
valuables.
• Interior partitions are formed with light movable timber
frames, with an infilling of stout translucent paper,
1.8m (6ft.) in height. The friezes above being
plastered or wood lined.
• Two main reception rooms form a suite, the second a
step higher than the first and having two alcoves
•The Tokonoma is a place for meditation and art.
When the family entertains, the honored guest is
placed just in front of the tokonoma, with his or her
back to it, so that the guest, the scroll and the ikebana
make a charming and harmonious picture.
*BONSAI-Plant or dwarf tree
is an almost perfect
reflection of Japanese culture.
Two to three feet tall, and
epitomizes the beauty of
nature. A tree can easily be
100 or 200 years old.
*Hakoniwa (box garden) suffices to separate the house
from the outside.
• The importance of a Zashiki (reception room) is evident in its
sheer size-eight tatami mats or bigger. The Tatami is the
plaftform in Japan for indoor living-for work, for reflection or
meditation, for leisure activities, for family councils for artistic
endeavour and for entertainment.
• Almost all the floors are covered with straw mats
approximately half a centimeter thick and 90 x 180
centimeters (3 x 6) feet in size.
• There is a Toko (floor) straw underpart, and omote (surface),
thin reed cover and (fuchi) or (heri) (edge), cloth tape
binding. The straw material is arranged in successive
transverse layers and then stiched with kemp strings.
where the family gathers in the chanoma around a traditional
charcoal brazier (hibachi) now used as a decorative item, glassed
on top and used as a coffee table. A low Japanese table is placed
over a sunken square called the Kotatsu, into which the legs can
be lowered in winter for warmth supplied by small shallow gas or
electric heaters.
•Japanese houses owe much of their bright and cheerful character to
simplicity of design, consummate skill in both selection and working
of materials, as well as to welt-chosen garden settings. Night
illumination by decorative Japanese lanterns produces effects of
exquisite beauty.
TEA HOUSES
• Developed in the kamakura period as a result of the aesthetic
doctrine of Zen Buddism which permeated Japanese thought
and resulted in the 'tea-ceremony' (chanoyu) garden
cultivation and flower arrangement. The tea house represents
the most exclusive Japanese social institution, and was the
resort of the most sophisticated and fashionable world.
• Typically and stylistically indigenous, they are normally small in
scale, the· size regulated by mats, often down to single-mat
room, barely 1.8 m x 1 m (6ft. x 3ft.) and always with the
recess or Tokonoma. Architecturally, the greatest care is
lavished on these tea room proper (chasitsu) while no detail of
lighting, ventilation or decoration is neglected.
• The entry for guests is always curved so as to
conceal the entrance until you get there and is
usually approached by stepping stones through a
pleasure garden (chanima) with tastefully arranged
flower-beds. Decorative stone lanterns and skillfully
landscaped trees, shrubs and watercourses contrive
to form a lively setting, and to effectively cut off the
entrance from immediate view. The separation of the
chaniwa is intended to create a feeling of
detachment from all things worldly.
BATH HOUSES
• The typical Japanese inn closeIy resembles the large private house.
but it is invariably planned round a central courtyard. In larger
examples, upper floors are provided with connecting galleries.
Appreciation of the importance of personal hygiene is strongly
marked in the Japanese character.
• Since the daily bath is about the most significant ritual for the
Japanese people, the bath (ofuro) plays a most important part in
their lives. In fact, where there is no ofuro, the members of the
family go to the nearest public bath house with bathing accessories
in hand, whether in one's own home or in a public bath, one first
washes thoroughly outside the tub.
• In public bath, no water from your faucet should spill over the next
bather. At home, because everyone must be faultlessly clean before
going into the ofuro, the water after the last member's immersion is
TEMPLES

TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

HORYU-JI TEMPLE
TIANANMEN SQUARE

RYOAN-JI TEMPLE
GARDEN

KINKAKU-JI TEMPLE GOLDEN PAVILION