History and Theory of

Architecture 3
Week 5: Ancient Japanese Architecture
 LO1 to illustrate the principles and
characteristics of Japanese architecture

LO2 to list the different Type of Japanese

architecture

Learning Outcomes
Before 400 A.D., Japan
was not a unified nation
but was ruled by
hundreds of different
family clans
 Yamato descendant of - sun goddess, Amaterasu
who gave light to the world

Shinto Religion
• Polytheistic religion – respect of nature and ancestor
worship
• Believe in divine spirits called Kami that live in nature

Torii of Itsukushima · Miyajima Island, Japan

 Adopted Chinese culture & ideas

Emperor Yamato No power, just a figure head, power control by clan leader
Hierarchical tension for serenity and calm Condition of stasis or equilibrium

Chinese Architecture Japanese Architecture

Chinese Writing Japanese Writing
Chinese landscape art Japanese landscape art
Zen Buddhism

In the mid-700s Buddhism was

introduced in Japan from China & Korea

Buddhism was accepted by Japanese

emperors,
but in Japanese society, Buddhism &
Shinto blended – Zen Buddhism

Enlightenment through meditation

Principles of Japanese design - Zen aesthetic
(Enso)
• Wabi Sabi – purity, tranquillity, and a respect for nature and a desire to live in harmony
with it – “Less is more”
• Interconnected
• Overlap
• 7 Principles
• Kanso (簡素) Simplicity or elimination of clutter
• Fukinsei (不均整) Asymmetry or irregularity
• Shibui/Shibumi (渋味) Beautiful by being understated
• Shizen (自然) Naturalness
• Yugen (幽玄) Profundity or suggestion rather than revelation
• Datsuzoku (脱俗) Freedom from habit or formula
• Seijaku (静寂) Tranquility or an energized calm (quite), stillness, solitude
Kanso (簡素) Simplicity or elimination of clutter

Things are expressed in a plain, simple,

natural manner

Think not in terms of decoration but in

terms of clarity, that may be achieved
through omission or exclusion of the non-
essential
 Fukinsei (不均整) Asymmetry or irregularity

• Controlling balance in a composition via

irregularity and asymmetry
• The enso ("Zen circle") in brush painting
is often drawn as an incomplete circle,
symbolizing the imperfection that is part
of existence
• Asymmetrical balance is a dynamic,
beautiful thing
Shibui/Shibumi (渋味) Beautiful by being understated

• Being precisely what it was meant to

be and not elaborated upon
• Direct and simple way, without being
flashy
• Elegant simplicity, articulate brevity

• Something cool but beautifully

minimalist
 Shizen (自然) Naturalness

Absence of pretence
or artificiality, full
creative intent
unforced
Yugen (幽玄) Profoundity or
suggestion rather than revelation

A Japanese garden, for

example, can be said to be
a collection of subtleties
and symbolic elements
Showing more by showing
less
Datsuzoku (脱俗) Freedom from habit or formula

Escape from daily routine or the

ordinary

Unworldly

Transcending the conventional

Feeling of surprise and a bit of

amazement when one realizes they
can have freedom from the
conventional
 kakemono

Tokonoma
ikebana

Translucent sliding partition tatami

(shoji)
Seijaku (静寂) Tranquility or an energized calm (quite),
stillness, solitude

Feeling of "active
calm" and
stillness
Characteristics of Traditional Japanese
Architecture
• Framed views – shakkei (borrowed scenary)
• Flexible spaces (shoji Fusuma)
• Deep eaves
• Obscured boundaries
Framed views
Flexible spaces (shoji Fusuma)
Deep Eaves
Obscured Boundaries
Western – clear boundary
 Jomon Yayoi
1300 – 300 BC 300 BC – 300 AD

Japanese Architecture
Early Japan
 Jomon Period (13000
BC to 300 BC)

• Pit dwellings - inside

the house, the floor may
have been hollowed in
• Wood foundation

• Thatched roof

Sannai Maruyama Archaeological Site in Aomori

Yayoi Period (300 BC to 300 AD)
Widespread rice farming

Permanent settlements with

bigger populations

Organised community

Granaries, storehouses and

living quarters

Village fences and Watch

Towers appeared
The Yoshinogari Historical Park
Shinto Shrines – Main Elements
Shinmei style - Ise Shrine, halls resemble ancient storehouses
Unique custom of periodic rebuilding for symbolic purification - Ise Shrines, every twenty years

Katsuogi roof decorations at Ise Shrine

 Taisha Style – Izumo Shrine, buildings resemble ancient residences

Torri gate to Matsu no Sando Worship Hall (front) and Main Hall (back)
 Main Hall
(Honden)
surrounded by
two sets of
fences

A statue of
Okuninushi
along the
approach to the
shrine
Jukusha -
lodgings for the
visiting deities
Sumiyoshi style - Sumiyoshi Shrine in Osaka, native Japanese shrine architecture style
Sumiyoshi-zukuri architecture

Praying hall in a different architecture style

Changes in Shrine Design – Chinese Influence
Kasuga Shrine and Usa Shrine - distinct
foreign elements – vivid colours,
brackets more ornate

Main sanctuary of Kasuga Taisha, Nara

Usa Jingu
Edo Period, shrines became increasingly ornate

Three of the Toshogu's most famous carvings

Toshogu Shrine, 17th century

The heavily decorated Yomeimon

 Temples
• Resembled those in China closely in features
- wide courtyards and symmetrical layouts
• Horyuji (the world's oldest wooden
structure), Todaiji (the world's largest
wooden structure), Yakushiji and Kofukuji.
Asukadera, located about 25 kilometers
south of Nara City, oldest Buddhist
institution in Japan
• Designed to suit local tastes - less
symmetrical features, incorporate gardens
in their compounds
 Horyuji Temple (法隆寺, Hōryūji) was founded in 607 by
Prince Shotoku

Evolution of the Stupa

Western Precinct: main hall (left), central gate (center) and five-story
pagoda (right)
 Todaiji Temple, 752
Yakushiji Temple, Nara, 7th Century

World's largest wooden structure

Asukadera, 596

Asukadera's Main Hall

 Horizontal tie beams
Zen Buddhism Temple Roof – double or hidden structure
Bilateral symmetry
Palaces
• In 710, the first permanent capital was set up in Nara, the Heijo Palace, was built

• The imperial capital was later moved to Kyoto where it remained for over a
thousand years until 1868
• Imperial villas - The Kyoto Palace, Sento Palace, Katsura Villa and Shugakuin Villa

• Temples such as Kyoto's Ninnaji and Daikakuji utilize former palace buildings

• From 14th -16th century, Japan went through a period of civil war.

• During Edo Period, feudal lords started to build palaces - Ninomaru Palace at
Nijo Castle and reconstructions at the castles of Nagoya, Kumamoto and Hikone.
Palaces

Kyoto Imperial Palace

Heijo Palace (Nara Imperial Palace), 710-794

The Hall of State Ceremonies within the Kyoto Imperial

Palace
Sento Imperial Palace,1630

The palace garden's South Pond

Entrance to Omiya Palace
Katsura Imperial Villa, 1645

Shoin style – old mansions of nobility & derive from Zen

 New Palace

Plan – irregular and sprawling

Main gate
Entrance

Middle Palace

Old shoin

Moon viewing platform

Geppa-ro tea house
 Ninomaru Garden
Ninomaru Palace
• Initially built for purpose of fortification, the castles became the center of
government and status symbols for the provincial lords as war drew to an
end and Japan was reunited in the late 1500s
• Only 12 castle keeps survive from the feudal era, while a few dozen others
have been rebuilt in the 20th century
• Primary material for castle construction used to be wood, but most of the
rebuilt castles were constructed using ferro concrete, and thus they look
authentic from the outside but not from within
• Castles that survived the post-feudal years, Himeji Castle and Matsumoto
Castle
Castles

Himeji Castle, 1400

Winding paths connect the different areas of the castle

Matsumoto Castle, 1592-1614
Donjon complex
 Samurai Residences
Nagamachi Samurai District Former samurai residences in Hagi

During the Edo Period (1603 - 1867), the samurai were required to reside in the castle towns that surrounded the
castles
Townhouses Merchant houses in Takayama

• Craftsmen and merchants

• Narrow facades but extended wide into the back because taxation was
often based on road access
• A typical townhouse had its store in front, the living quarters behind,
and a storehouse (kura) in the back
• Storehouses were fire-insulated with earthen walls to protect valuable
goods from the threat of fires
Farmhouse (Minka) Farmhouses in Shirakawago

• Farmers
• Construction styles developed according to weather patterns
• Architectural similarities - wooden facades, thatched roofs, sunken hearths (irori), earth floors for
stable and kitchen, and living spaces on elevated wooden floors that may have included some tatami
rooms in case of the more well-off families
 The founding principles set forth by Sen no Reiku - Harmony (wa), Respect (kei),
Purity (sei), and tranquility (jaku)
Tea house Location - Katsura – in isolation – fusing spiritual and natural – reticent, eloquent and
restrained
Japanese tea ceremony Chashitsu
Thank you