Japanese architecture - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

originated in prehistoric times with simple pit-houses and stores that were adapted to a hunter-gatherer

Hunter-gatherer

A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...

population. Influence from Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

China via Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

saw the introduction of more complex grain stores and ceremonial burial chambers.

The introduction into Japan of Buddhism

Buddhism in Japan

The history of Buddhism in Japan can be roughly divided into three periods, namely the Nara period , the Heian period and the post-Heian period . Each period saw the introduction of new doctrines and upheavals in existing schools...

in the sixth century was a catalyst for large scale temple

Buddhist temples in Japan

Along with Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples are the most numerous, famous, and important religious buildings in Japan.The term "Shinto shrine" is used in opposition to "Buddhist temple" to mirror in English the distinction made in Japanese between Shinto and Buddhist religious structures. In...

building using complicated techniques in wood. Influence from the Chinese T'ang and Sui

Sui Dynasty

The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....

Dynasties led to the foundation of the first permanent capital in Nara

Nara, Nara

is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...

. Its checkerboard street layout used the Chinese capital of Chang'an

Chang'an

Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...

as a template for its design. A gradual increase in the size of buildings led to standard units of measurement as well as refinements in layout and garden design. The introduction of the tea ceremony

Japanese tea ceremony

The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called . The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called...

emphasised simplicity and modest design as a counterpoint to the excesses of the aristocracy.

During the Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

of 1868 the history of Japanese architecture was radically changed by two important events. The first was the Kami and Buddhas Separation Act

Shinbutsu Bunri

The term in Japanese indicates the forbidding by law of the amalgamation of kami and buddhas made during the Meiji Restoration. It also indicates the effort made by the Japanese government to create a clear division between native kami beliefs and Buddhism on one side, and Buddhist temples and...

of 1868, which formally separated Buddhism from Shinto

Shinto

or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

and Buddhist temples

Buddhist temples in Japan

from Shinto shrines, breaking an association between the two which had lasted well over a thousand years and causing, directly and indirectly, immense damage to the nation's architecture.

Second, it was then that Japan underwent a period of intense Westernization

Westernization

Westernization or Westernisation , also occidentalization or occidentalisation , is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in such matters as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, language, alphabet,...

in order to compete with other developed countries. Initially architects and styles from abroad were imported to Japan but gradually the country taught its own architects and began to express its own style. Architects returning from study with western architects introduced the International Style

International style (architecture)

The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...

of modernism into Japan. However it was not until after the Second World War that Japanese architects made an impression on the international scene, firstly with the work of architects like Kenzo Tange

Kenzo Tange

was a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture. He was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism, and designed major buildings on five continents. Tange was also an influential protagonist of...

and then with theoretical movements like Metabolism

Metabolist Movement

In the late 1950s a small group of young Japanese architects and designers joined forces under the title of "Metabolism". Their visions for cities of the future inhabited by a mass society were characterized by large scale, flexible, and expandable structures that evoked the processes of organic...

General features of Japanese traditional architecture

Much in the traditional architecture of Japan is not native, but was imported from China and other Asian cultures over the centuries, with such constancy that the building styles of all the Six Dynasties

Six Dynasties

Six Dynasties is a collective noun for six Chinese dynasties during the periods of the Three Kingdoms , Jin Dynasty , and Southern and Northern Dynasties ....

of China are represented. Japanese traditional architecture and its history are as a consequence dominated by Chinese and Asian techniques and styles (present even in Ise Shrine

Ise Shrine

is a Shinto shrine dedicated to goddess Amaterasu-ōmikami, located in the city of Ise in Mie prefecture, Japan. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is in fact a shrine complex composed of a large number of Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and ....

, held to be the quintessence of Japanese architecture) on one side, and by Japanese original variations on those themes on the other.

Partly due also to the variety of climates in Japan and the millennium encompassed between the first cultural import and the last, the result is extremely heterogeneous, but several practically universal features can nonetheless be found. First of all is the choice of materials, always wood in various forms (planks, straw, tree bark, paper, etc.) for almost all structures. Unlike both Western and some Chinese architecture, the use of stone is avoided except for certain specific uses, for example temple podia

Podium

A podium is a platform that is used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek πόδι In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podia can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of an orchestra stands on a podium as do many...

and pagoda

Tō

The , sometimes also called or is the Japanese version of the Chinese pagoda, itself an interpretation of the Indian stupa. Pagodas are quintessentially Buddhist and an important component of Japanese Buddhist temple compounds but, because until the Kami and Buddhas Separation Act of 1868 a...

foundations.

The general structure is almost always the same: post

Post

-Mail:* Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries* Post, an entry in a blog or internet forum - see posting style-Newspapers and magazines:* New York Post, USA* The Washington Post, USA...

s and lintels support a large and gently curved roof, while the walls are paper-thin, often movable and in any case non-carrying. Arches and barrel roofs are completely absent. Gable and eave curves are gentler than in China and columnar entasis

Entasis

In architecture, entasis is the application of a convex curve to a surface for aesthetic purposes. Its best-known use is in certain orders of Classical columns that curve slightly as their diameter is decreased from the bottom upwards. In the Hellenistic period some columns with entasis are...

(convexity at the center) limited.

The roof is the most visually impressive component, often constituting half the size of the whole edifice. The slightly curved eaves

Eaves

The eaves of a roof are its lower edges. They usually project beyond the walls of the building to carry rain water away.-Etymology:"Eaves" is derived from Old English and is both the singular and plural form of the word.- Function :...

extend far beyond the walls, covering verandas, and their weight must therefore be supported by complex bracket systems called tokyō

Tokyō

The Dougong in Chinese is a system of and supporting the eaves of a Japanese building, usually part of a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine. The use of tokyō is made necessary by the extent to which the eaves protrude, a functionally essential element of Japanese Buddhist architecture. The system...

, in the case of temples and shrines. Simpler solutions are adopted in domestic structures. The oversize eaves give the interior a characteristic dimness, which contributes to the building's atmosphere. The interior of the building normally consists of a single room at the center called moya

Moya (architecture)

In Japanese architecture is the core of a building. Originally the central part of a residential building was called moya. After the introduction of Buddhism to Japan in the 6th century, moya has been used to denote the sacred central area of a temple building. It is generally surrounded by aisle...

, from which depart any other less important spaces.

Inner space divisions are fluid, and room size can be modified through the use of screens or movable paper walls. The large, single space offered by the main hall

Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism)

Main hall is the term used in English for the building within a Japanese Buddhist temple compound which enshrines the main object of veneration. Because the various denominations deliberately use different terms, this single English term translates several Japanese words, among them Butsuden,...

can therefore be divided according to the need. To the contrary, some walls can be removed and different rooms joined temporarily to make space for some more guests. The separation between inside and outside is itself in some measure not absolute as entire walls can be removed, opening a residence or temple to visitors. Verandas appear to be part of the building to an outsider, but part of the external world to those in the building. Structures are therefore made to a certain extent part of their environment. Care is taken to blend the edifice into the surrounding natural environment.

The use of construction modules keeps proportions between different parts of the edifice constant, preserving its overall harmony. (On the subject of building proportions, see also the article ken

Ken (architecture)

A is a measurement in Japanese architecture. It has two principal uses:* As a proportion for intervals between the pillars of traditional-style buildings. The word is translated in this case in English as "bay". Traditional buildings usually measure an odd number of bays, for example 3×3 or 5×5...

).

Even in cases as that of Nikkō Tōshō-gū

Nikko Tosho-gu

is a Shinto shrine located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the "Shrines and Temples of Nikkō", a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Tōshō-gū is dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. Initially built in 1617, during the Edo period, while Ieyasu's son Hidetada...

, where every available space is heavily decorated, ornamentation tends to follow, and therefore emphasize, rather than hide, basic structures.

Being shared by both sacred and profane architecture, these features made it easy converting a lay building into a temple or vice versa. This happened for example at Hōryū-ji

Hōryū-ji

is a Buddhist temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is Hōryū Gakumonji , or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as seminary and monastery both....

, where a noblewoman's mansion was transformed into a religious building.

Prehistoric period

The prehistoric period includes the Jōmon

Jomon period

The is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14,000 BC to 300 BC.The term jōmon means "cord-patterned" in Japanese. This refers to the pottery style characteristic of the Jōmon culture, and which has markings made using sticks with cords wrapped around them...

, Yayoi

Yayoi period

The is an Iron Age era in the history of Japan traditionally dated 300 BC to 300 AD. It is named after the neighbourhood of Tokyo where archaeologists first uncovered artifacts and features from that era. Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new...

and Kofun

Kofun period

The is an era in the history of Japan from around 250 to 538. It follows the Yayoi period. The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating from this era. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes referred to collectively as the Yamato period...

periods stretching from approximately 5000 BCE to the beginning of the eighth century CE.

During the three phases of the Jōmon period the population was primarily hunter-gatherer

Hunter-gatherer

with some primitive agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

skills and their behaviour was predominantly determined by changes in climatic conditions and other natural stimulants. Early dwellings were pit houses consisting of shallow pits with tamped earth floors and grass roofs designed to collect rainwater with the aid of storage jars. Later in the period, a colder climate with greater rainfall led to a decline in population, which contributed to an interest in ritual. Concentric stone circles first appeared during this time.

During the Yayoi period the Japanese people began to interact with the Chinese Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

, whose knowledge and technical skills began to influence them. The Japanese began to build raised-floor storehouses as granaries which were constructed using metal tools like saws and chisels that began to appear at this time. A reconstruction in Toro, Shizuoka is a wooden box made of thick boards joined in the corners in a log cabin

Kura (storehouse)

are traditional Japanese storehouses. They are commonly durable buildings built from timber, stone or clay used to safely store valuable commodities....

style and supported on eight pillars. The roof is thatched but, unlike the typically hipped roof

Hip roof

A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...

of the pit dwellings, it is a simple V-shaped gable

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

.

The Kofun period marked the appearance of many-chambered burial mounds or tumuli (kofun literally means "old mounds"). These are thought to have been influenced by similar mounds in Korea

Korea

. Early in the period the tombs, known as "keyhole kofun" or , often made use of the existing topography, shaping it and adding man-made moats to form a distinctive keyhole shape, i.e. that of a circle interconnected with a triangle. Access was via a vertical shaft that was sealed off once the burial was completed. There was room inside the chamber for a coffin and grave goods. The mounds were often decorated with terracotta figures called haniwa

Haniwa

The are terracotta clay figures which were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period of the history of Japan....

. Later in the period mounds began to be located on flat ground and their scale greatly increased. Among many examples in Nara

Nara, Nara

is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...

and Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, the most notable is the Daisen-kofun, designated as the tomb of Emperor Nintoku

Emperor Nintoku

was the 16th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 313–399.-Legendary narrative:...

. The tomb covers 32 hectares (80 acres) and it is thought to have been decorated with 20,000 haniwa figures.

Towards the end of the Kofun period, tomb burials faded out as Buddhist

Buddhism in Japan

cremation ceremonies gained popularity.

Asuka and Nara architecture

The most significant contributor to architectural changes during the Asuka period

Asuka period

The , was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 , although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period...

was the introduction of Buddhism

Japanese Buddhist architecture

Japanese Buddhist architecture is the architecture of Buddhist temples in Japan, consisting of locally developed variants of architectural styles born in China...

. New temples became centers of worship with tomb burial practices slowly becoming outlawed. Also, Buddhism brought to Japan and kami

Kami

is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

worship the idea of permanent shrines and gave to Shinto architecture

Shinto architecture

Shinto architecture is the architecture of Japanese Shinto shrines.With a few exceptions, the general blueprint of a Shinto shrine is Buddhist in origin. Before Buddhism, shrines were just temporary structures erected to a particular purpose. Buddhism brought to Japan the idea of permanent shrines...

much of its present vocabulary.

Some of the earliest structures still extant in Japan are Buddhist temples established at this time. The oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world are found at Hōryū-ji

Hōryū-ji

is a Buddhist temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is Hōryū Gakumonji , or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as seminary and monastery both....

, to the southwest of Nara

Nara Prefecture

is a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....

. First built in the early 7th century as the private temple of Crown Prince Shōtoku

Prince Shotoku

, also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was a son of Emperor Yōmei and his younger half-sister Princess Anahobe no Hashihito. His parents were relatives of the ruling Soga clan, and was involved in the defeat...

, it consists of 41 independent buildings; the most important ones, the main worship hall, or Kon-dō

Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism)

(Golden Hall), and the five-story pagoda

Tō

), stand in the centre of an open area surrounded by a roofed cloister (kairō

Kairō

The , , is the Japanese version of a cloister, a covered corridor originally built around the most sacred area of a Buddhist temple, a zone which contained the Kondō and the pagoda...

). The Kon-dō, in the style of Chinese worship

Buddhism in China

Chinese Buddhism refers collectively to the various schools of Buddhism that have flourished in China since ancient times. Buddhism has played an enormous role in shaping the mindset of the Chinese people, affecting their aesthetics, politics, literature, philosophy and medicine.At the peak of the...

halls, is a two-story structure of post-and-beam construction, capped by an irimoya

Irimoya

A xieshan style or roof in Japanese architecture is a hip roof integrated on two opposing sides with a gable. It can be also described in English as a hip-and-gable, gablet, or Dutch gable roof...

, or hipped-gabled, roof of ceramic tiles.

Heijō-kyō

Heijo-kyo

Heijō-kyō , was the capital city of Japan during most of the Nara period, from 710–40 and again from 745–84. The Palace site is a listed UNESCO World Heritage together with other places in the city of Nara Heijō-kyō (平城京, also Heizei-kyō, sometimes Nara no miyako), was the capital city of Japan...

, modern day Nara

Nara, Nara

is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...

, was founded in 708 as the first permanent capital of state of Japan. The layout of its checkerboard streets and buildings were influenced by the Chinese capital of Chang'an

Chang'an

. The city soon became an important centre of Buddhist worship in Japan. The most grandiose of these temples was Tōdaiji, built to rival temples of the Chinese T'ang and Sui

Sui Dynasty

Dynasties. Appropriately, the 16.2-m (53-ft) Buddha or Daibutsu

Daibutsu

or 'giant Buddha' is the Japanese term, often used informally, for large statues of Buddha. The oldest is that at Asuka-dera and the best-known those of Tōdai-ji in Nara and Kōtoku-in in Kamakura , both National Treasures.- Examples :...

(completed in 752) enshrined in the main hall is a Rushana Buddha, the figure that represents the essence of Buddhahood

Buddhahood

In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

, just as Tōdai-ji

Todai-ji

, is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall , the largest wooden building in the world, houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu . The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the ...

represented the centre for imperially sponsored Buddhism and its dissemination throughout Japan. Only a few fragments of the original statue survive, and the present hall and central Buddha are reconstructions from the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

. Clustered around the main hall

Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism)

(the Daibutsuden) on a gently sloping hillside are a number of secondary halls: the Hokke-dō (Lotus Sutra Hall), the Kōfuku

Kofuku-ji

is a Buddhist temple in the city of Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The temple is the national headquarters of the Hossō school and is one of the eight Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.-History:...

and the storehouse

Kura (storehouse)

are traditional Japanese storehouses. They are commonly durable buildings built from timber, stone or clay used to safely store valuable commodities....

, called the Shōsō-in. This last structure is of great importance as an art-historical cache, because in it are stored the utensils that were used in the temple's dedication ceremony in 752, as well as government documents and many secular objects owned by the Imperial family.

Heian period

Although the network of Buddhist temples across the country acted as a catalyst for an exploration of architecture and culture, this also led to the clergy gaining increased power and influence. Emperor Kammu

Emperor Kammu

was the 50th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Kammu reigned from 781 to 806.-Traditional narrative:Kammu's personal name was . He was the eldest son of Prince Shirakabe , and was born prior to Shirakabe's ascension to the throne...

decided to escape this influence by moving his capital first to Nagaoka-kyō

Nagaoka-kyo

was the capital of Japan from 784 to 794. Its location was reported as Otokuni District, Yamashiro Province, and Nagaokakyō, Kyoto, which took its name from the capital...

and then to Heian-kyō

Heian-kyo

Heian-kyō , was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180....

, known today as Kyōto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

. Although the layout of the city was similar to Nara's and inspired by Chinese precedents, the palaces, temples and dwellings began to show examples of local Japanese taste.

Heavy materials like stone, mortar and clay were abandoned as building elements, with simple wooden walls, floors and partitions becoming prevalent. Native species like cedar

Cryptomeria

Cryptomeria is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae; it includes only one species, Cryptomeria japonica . It is endemic to Japan, where it is known as Sugi...

(sugi) were popular as an interior finish because of its prominent grain, while pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

(matsu) and larch

Larch

Larches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Growing from 15 to 50m tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains further south...

(aka matsu) were common for structural uses. Brick roofing tiles and a type of cypress called hinoki

Chamaecyparis obtusa

Chamaecyparis obtusa is a species of cypress native to central Japan.It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown...

were used for roofs. It was sometime during this period that the hidden roof

Hidden roof

The Also sometimes called . Koya is the technical term for the space between the roof and the ceiling. is a type of roof widely used in Japan both at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. It is composed of a true roof above and a second roof beneath, permitting an outer roof of steep pitch to have...

, a uniquely Japanese solution to roof drainage problems, was adopted.

The increasing size of buildings in the capital led to an architecture reliant on columns regularly spaced in accordance with the ken

Ken (architecture)

, a traditional measure of both size and proportion. The Imperial Palace Shishinden

Heian Palace

The Heian Palace was the original imperial palace of Heian-kyō , the capital of Japan, from 794 to 1227. In Japan, this palace is called Daidairi...

demonstrated a style that was a precursor to the later aristocratic-style of building known as shinden-zukuri

Shinden-zukuri

Shinden-zukuri refers to the style of domestic architecture developed for palatial or aristocratic mansions built in Heian-kyō in the Heian period , especially in 10th century Japan....

. The style was characterised by symmetrical buildings placed as arms that defined an inner garden. This garden then used borrowed scenery to seemingly blend with the wider landscape.

The chief surviving example of shinden-zukuri architecture is the of Byōdō-in

Byodo-in

is a Buddhist temple in the city of Uji in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is jointly a temple of the Jōdo-shū and Tendai-shū sects.- History :...

, a temple in Uji to the southeast of Kyōto. It consists of a main rectangular structure flanked by two L-shaped wing corridors and a tail corridor, set at the edge of a large artificial pond. Inside, a single golden image of Amida

Amida

Amida can mean:* Amitabha, an important Buddha in East Asian Buddhism* Amida , a beetle genus* Amida Buddha* Amidah, the central prayer of the Jewish services* Amidakuji, a way of drawing lots* Amitabh Bachchan, an actor...

(circa 1053) is installed on a high platform. Raigo

Raigo

A is an appearance of Amida Buddha on a purple cloud at the time of one's death. It has given rise to a type of Japanese painting of a Buddha accompanied by bodhisattvas...

(Descent of the Amida Buddha) paintings on the wooden doors of the Hō-ō-dō are often considered an early example of Yamato-e

Yamato-e

Yamato-e is a style of Japanese painting inspired by Tang Dynasty paintings and developed in the late Heian period. It is considered the classical Japanese style...

, Japanese-style painting, because they contain representations of the scenery around Kyōto.

The priest Kūkai

Kukai

Kūkai , also known posthumously as , 774–835, was a Japanese monk, civil servant, scholar, poet, and artist, founder of the Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism. Shingon followers usually refer to him by the honorific titles of and ....

(best known by the posthumous title Kōbō Daishi, 774-835) journeyed to China to study Shingon

Shingon Buddhism

is one of the mainstream major schools of Japanese Buddhism and one of the few surviving Esoteric Buddhist lineages that started in the 3rd to 4th century CE that originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra...

, a form of Vajrayana

Vajrayana

Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...

Buddhism, which he introduced into Japan in 806. At the core of Shingon worship are the various mandala

Mandala

Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...

s, diagrams of the spiritual universe which influenced temple design. The temples erected for this new sect were built in the mountains, far away from the court and the laity in the capital. The irregular topography of these sites forced their designers to rethink the problems of temple construction, and in so doing to choose more indigenous elements of design.

At this time the architectural style of Buddhist temples began to influence that of the Shintō shrines

Shinto architecture

. For example, like their Buddhist counterparts the Shintō shrines began to paint the normally unfinished timbers with the characteristic red cinnabar

Cinnabar

Cinnabar or cinnabarite , is the common ore of mercury.-Word origin:The name comes from κινναβαρι , a Greek word most likely applied by Theophrastus to several distinct substances...

colour.

During the later part of the Heian Period there were the first documented appearances of vernacular houses in the minka

Minka

are private residences constructed in any one of several traditional Japanese building styles.In the context of the four divisions of society, minka were the dwellings of farmers, artisans, and merchants , but this connotation no longer exists in the modern Japanese language, and any traditional...

style/form. These were characterised by the use local materials and labour, being primarily constructed of wood, having packed earth floors and thatched roofs.

Kamakura and Muromachi periods

During the Kamakura period

Kamakura period

The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....

(1185–1333) and the following Muromachi period

Muromachi period

The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...

(1336–1573), Japanese architecture made technological advances that made it somewhat diverge from its Chinese counterpart. In response to native requirements such as earthquake resistance and shelter against heavy rainfall and the summer heat and sun, the master carpenters of this time responded with a unique type of architecture, creating the Daibutsuyō

Daibutsuyō

is a Japanese religious architectural style which emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century. Together with Wayō and Zenshūyō, it is one of the three most significant styles developed by Japanese Buddhism on the basis of Chinese models....

and Zenshūyō styles.

The Kamakura period began with the transfer of power in Japan from the imperial court to the Kamakura shogunate

Kamakura shogunate

The Kamakura shogunate was a military dictatorship in Japan headed by the shoguns from 1185 to 1333. It was based in Kamakura. The Kamakura period draws its name from the capital of the shogunate...

. During the Genpei War

Genpei War

The was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late-Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the fall of the Taira clan and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192....

(1180–1185), many traditional buildings in Nara and Kyoto were damaged. For example, Kōfuku-ji

Kofuku-ji

and Tōdai-ji

Todai-ji

were burned down by Taira no Shigehira

Taira no Shigehira

' was one of the sons of Taira no Kiyomori, and one of the Taira Clan's chief commanders during the Heian period of the 12th century of Japan...

of the Taira clan

Taira clan

The was a major Japanese clan of samurai in historical Japan.In reference to Japanese history, along with Minamoto, Taira was a hereditary clan name bestowed by the emperors of the Heian Period to certain ex-members of the imperial family when they became subjects...

in 1180. Many of these temples and shrines were later rebuilt by the Kamakura shogunate to consolidate the shogun

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

's authority.

Although less elaborate than during the Heian period, architecture in the Kamakura period was informed by a simplicity due to its association with the military order. New residences used a buke-zukuri

Shinden-zukuri

Shinden-zukuri refers to the style of domestic architecture developed for palatial or aristocratic mansions built in Heian-kyō in the Heian period , especially in 10th century Japan....

style that was associated with buildings surrounded by narrow moats or stockades. Defense became a priority, with buildings grouped under a single roof rather than around a garden. The gardens of the Heian period houses often became training grounds.

After the fall of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, the Ashikaga shogunate

Ashikaga shogunate

The , also known as the , was a Japanese feudal military regime, ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga clan.This period is also known as the Muromachi period and gets its name from Muromachi Street of Kyoto where the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established his residence...

was formed, having later its seat in the Kyoto district of Muromachi. The proximity of the shogunate to the imperial court led to a rivalry in the upper levels of society which caused tendencies toward luxurious goods and lifestyles. Aristocratic houses were adapted from the simple buke-zukuri style to resemble the earlier shinden-sukuri style. A good example of this ostentatious architecture is the Kinkaku-ji

Kinkaku-ji

, also known as , is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. The garden complex is an excellent example of Muromachi period garden design. It is designated as a National Special Historic Site and a National Special Landscape, and it is one of 17 locations comprising the Historic Monuments of Ancient...

in Kyōto, which is decorated with lacquer

Lacquer

In a general sense, lacquer is a somewhat imprecise term for a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required...

and gold leaf

Gold leaf

right|thumb|250px|[[Burnishing]] gold leaf with an [[agate]] stone tool, during the water gilding processGold leaf is gold that has been hammered into extremely thin sheets and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades...

, in contrast to its otherwise simple structure and plain bark roofs.

In an attempt to rein in the excess of the upper classes, the Zen

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...

masters introduced the tea ceremony

Japanese tea ceremony

. In architecture this promoted the design of chashitsu

Chashitsu

In Japanese tradition, architectural spaces designed to be used for tea ceremony gatherings are known as chashitsu ....

(tea houses) to a modest size with simple detailing and materials. The style informed residential architecture with lighter, more intimate buildings relying on slender rafters and pillars with sliding inner partitions fusuma

Fusuma

In Japanese architecture, fusuma are vertical rectangular panels which can slide from side to side to redefine spaces within a room, or act as doors. They typically measure about wide by tall, the same size as a tatami mat, and are two or three centimeters thick...

and outer sliding walls shōji

Shoji

In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo...

. Although woven grass and straw tatami

Tatami

A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core , with a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in standard sizes, with the length exactly twice the width...

mats first began to appear in the Kamakura period, they were often thrown all over the floor. In the Muromachi period they began to have a regular size and be closely fitted together. A typically sized Chashitsu is 4 1/2 mats in size.

In the garden, Zen principles replaced water with sand or gravel to produce the dry garden (karesansui) like the one at Ryōan-ji

Ryoan-ji

is a Zen temple located in northwest Kyoto, Japan. Belonging to the Myoshin-ji school of the Rinzai branch of Zen Buddhism, the temple and karesansui garden is one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, a UNESCO World Heritage Site....

Azuchi-Momoyama period

During the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600) Japan underwent a process of unification after a long period of civil war. It was marked by the rule of Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...

and Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...

, men who built castles

Japanese castle

' were fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century...

as symbols of their power; Nobunaga in Azuchi

Azuchi Castle

' was one of the primary castles of Oda Nobunaga. It was built from 1576 to 1579, on the shores of Lake Biwa, in Ōmi Province. Nobunaga intentionally built it close enough to Kyoto that he could watch over and guard the approaches to the capital, but, being outside the city, his fortress would be...

, the seat of his government, and Hideyoshi in Momoyama. The Ōnin War

Onin War

The ' was a civil war that lasted 10 years during the Muromachi period in Japan. A dispute between Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen escalated into a nationwide war involving the Ashikaga shogunate and a number of daimyo in many regions of Japan....

during the Muromachi period had led to rise of castle architecture in Japan. By the time of the Azuchi-Momoyama period each domain was allowed to have one castle of its own. Typically it consisted of a central tower or surrounded by gardens and fortified buildings. All of this was set within massive stone walls and surrounded by deep moats. The dark interiors of castles were often decorated by artists, the spaces were separated up using sliding fusuma panels and byōbu

Byobu

are Japanese folding screens made from several joined panels bearing decorative painting and calligraphy, used to separate interiors and enclose private spaces, among other uses.- History :...

folding screens.

The shoin style

Shoin-zukuri

is a style of Japanese residential architecture used in the mansions of the military, temple guest halls, and Zen abbot's quarters of the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods . It forms the basis of today's traditional-style Japanese house. Characteristics of the shoin-zukuri development were the...

that had its origins with the chashitsu of the Muromachi period continued to be refined. Verandas linked the interiors of residential buildings with highly cultivated exterior gardens. Fusuma and byōbu became highly decorated with paintings and often an interior room with shelving and alcove (tokonoma

Tokonoma

Tokonoma , also referred to simply as toko, is a Japanese term generally referring to a built-in recessed space in a Japanese style reception room, in which items for artistic appreciation are displayed. In English, tokonoma is usually called alcove. The items usually displayed in a tokonoma are...

) were used to display art work (typically a hanging scroll).

Matsumoto

Matsumoto Castle

, also known as the because of its black exterior, is one of Japan's premier historic castles. It is located in the city of Matsumoto, in Nagano Prefecture and is within easy reach of Tokyo by road or rail....

, Kumamoto

Kumamoto Castle

is a hilltop Japanese castle located in Kumamoto in Kumamoto Prefecture. It was a large and extremely well fortified castle. The is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960, but several ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original castle. Kumamoto Castle is considered one of the three premier...

and Himeji

Himeji Castle

When the han feudal system was abolished in 1871, Himeji Castle was put up for auction. The castle was purchased by a Himeji resident for 23 Japanese yen...

(popularly known as the White Heron castle) are excellent examples of the castles of the period, while Nijo Castle

Nijo Castle

is a flatland castle located in Kyoto, Japan. The castle consists of two concentric rings of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens...

in Kyōto is an example of castle architecture blended with that of an imperial palace, to produce a style that is more in keeping with the Chinese influence of previous centuries.

Edo period

The Tokugawa Shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

took the city of Edo

Edo

, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

(later to become part of modern day Tōkyō) as their capital. They built an imposing fortress around which buildings of the state administration and residences for the provincial daimyōs

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

were constructed. The city grew around these buildings connected by a network of roads and canals. By 1700CE the population had swollen to one million inhabitants. The scarcity of space for residential architecture resulted in houses being built over two stories, often constructed on raised stone plinths.

Although machiya

Machiya

' are traditional wooden townhouses found throughout Japan and typified in the historical capital of Kyoto. Machiya and nōka constitute the two categories of Japanese vernacular architecture known as minka...

(townhouses) had been around since the Heian period they began to be refined during the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

. Machiya typically occupied deep, narrow plots abutting the street (the width of the plot was usually indicative of the wealth of the owner), often with a workshop or shop on the ground floor. Tiles rather than thatch were used on the roof and exposed timbers were often plastered in an effort to protect the building against fire. Edo suffered badly from devastating fires and the 1657 Great Fire of Meireki

Great Fire of Meireki

The , also known as the Furisode Fire, destroyed 60-70% of the Japanese capital city of Edo on March 2, 1657, this is the third year of the Meireki Imperial era...

was a turning point in urban design. Initially, as a method of reducing fire spread, the government built stone embankments in at least two locations along rivers in the city. Over time these were torn down and replaced with dōzō storehouses that were used both as fire breaks and to store goods unloaded from the canals. The dōzō were built with a structural frame made of timber coated with a number of layers of earthen plaster on the walls, door and roof. Above the earthen roofs was a timber framework supporting a tiled roof. Although Japanese who had studied with the Dutch at their settlement in Dejima

Dejima

was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period. Dejima was built to...

advocated building with stone and brick this was not undertaken because of their vulnerability to earthquakes Machiya and storehouses from the later part of the period are characterised by having a black coloration to the external plaster walls. This colour was made by adding India ink

India ink

India ink is a simple black ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing, especially when inking comic books and comic strips.-Composition:...

to burnt lime

Calcium oxide

Calcium oxide , commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline crystalline solid at room temperature....

and crushed oyster shell.

The clean lines of the civil architecture in Edo influenced the sukiya

Sukiya-zukuri

is one type of Japanese residential architectural style. Suki means refined, well cultivated taste and delight in elegant pursuits and refers to enjoyment of the exquisitely performed tea ceremony....

style of residential architecture. Katsura Detached Palace

Katsura Imperial Villa

The , or Katsura Detached Palace, is a villa with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan...

and Shugaku-in Imperial Villa on the outskirts of Kyōto are good examples of this style. Their architecture has simple lines and decor and uses wood in its natural state.

In the very late part of the period sankin kōtai

Sankin kotai

was a policy of the shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history. The purpose was to control the daimyo. In adopting the policy, the shogunate was continuing and refining similar policies of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1635, a law required sankin kōtai, which was already an established...

, the law requiring the daimyōs to maintain dwellings in the capital was repealed which resulted in a decrease in population in Edo and a commensurate reduction in income for the shogunate.

Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa periods

Towards the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Western influence in architecture began to show in buildings associated with the military and trade, especially naval and industrial facilities. After the Emperor Meiji

Emperor Meiji

The or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...

was restored to power (known as the Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

) Japan began a rapid process of Westernization

Westernization

which led to the need for new building types such as schools, banks and hotels.
Early Meiji Architecture was initially influenced by colonial architecture in Chinese treaty ports such as Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

. In Nagasaki

Nagasaki

is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...

, the British trader Thomas Glover

Thomas Blake Glover

Thomas Blake Glover, Order of the Rising Sun was a Scottish merchant in Bakumatsu and Meiji period Japan.-Early life :...

built his own house

Glover Garden

thumb|right|250px|Glover House known as Ipponmatsu from a drawing of 1863. The tree was chopped down in the early 1900s is a park in Nagasaki, Japan built for Thomas Blake Glover, a Scottish entrepreneur who contributed to the modernization of Japan in shipbuilding, coal mining, and many other...

in just such a style using the skill of local carpenters. His influence helped the career of architect Thomas Waters who designed the Osaka Mint

Japan Mint

The is an Incorporated Administrative Agency of the Japanese government. This agency has its Head office in Osaka with branches in Tokyo and Hiroshima.-History:...

in 1868, a long, low building in brick and stone with a central pediment

Pediment

A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...

ed portico

Portico

A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...

. In Tōkyō, Waters designed the Commercial Museum, thought to have been the city's first brick building.

In contrast to Waters's neoclassical style building, Japanese carpenters developed a pseudo-Japanese style known as giyōfū

Giyofu architecture

' was a style of Japanese architecture which outwardly resembled Western-style construction but relied on traditional Japanese techniques. It flourished during pre-WW2 period, and disappeared as knowledge of Western techniques became more widespread....

chiefly using wood. A good example of which is Kaichi Primary School

Kaichi School Museum

The in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture was one of the first schools in Japan. It opened in a temporary building in May 1873, the year after the first major education reforms were introduced by the new Ministry of Education. The school moved to new premises in April 1876. This western-style building,...

in Nagano Prefecture built in 1876. The master carpenter Tateishi Kiyoshige travelled to Tōkyō to see which Western building styles were popular and incorporated these in the school with traditional building methods. Constructed with a similar method to traditional storehouses, the wooden building plastered inside and out incorporates an octagonal Chinese tower and has stone-like quoins

Quoin (architecture)

Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...

to the corners. Traditional namako

Namako wall

Namako wall or Namako-kabe is a Japanese wall design widely used for vernacular houses, particularly on fireproof storehouses by the latter half of the Edo period. The namako wall is distinguished by a white grid pattern on black slate...

plasterwork was used at the base of the walls to give the impression that the building sits on a stone base.

The Japanese government also invited foreign architects to both work in Japan and teach new Japanese architects. One of these was the British architect Josiah Conder

Josiah Conder (architect)

Josiah Conder was a British architect who worked as a foreign advisor to the government of Meiji period Japan...

who went on to train the first generation of Japanese architects that included Kingo Tatsuno

Tatsuno Kingo

was a Japanese architect born in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, Kyushu.He studied in Japan at the Imperial College of Engineering where he was one of the first to graduate in 1879 under British architect Josiah Conder. He visited England and worked in the office of William Burges in 1881-2. He taught...

and Tokuma Katayama

Katayama Tōkuma

was a Japanese architect who designed the original buildings for the Imperial Nara Museum as well as the Kyoto Imperial Museum and was significant in introducing Western, particularly French architecture into Japan....

. Tatsuno's early works had a Venetian style influenced by John Ruskin

John Ruskin

John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...

, but his later works such as the Bank of Japan

Bank of Japan

is the central bank of Japan. The Bank is often called for short. It has its headquarters in Chuo, Tokyo.-History:Like most modern Japanese institutions, the Bank of Japan was founded after the Meiji Restoration...

(1896) and Tōkyō Station

Tokyo Station

is a train station located in the Marunouchi business district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, near the Imperial Palace grounds and the Ginza commercial district....

(1914) have a more Beaux-Arts feel. On the other hand, Katayama was more influenced by the French Second Empire style which can be seen in the Nara National Museum

Nara National Museum

The is one of the pre-eminent national art museums in Japan.-Introduction:The Nara National Museum is located in Nara, which was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. Katayama Tōkuma designed the original building, which is a representative Western-style building of the Meiji period and has been...

(1894) and the Kyōto National Museum

Kyoto National Museum

The is one of the three formerly imperially-mandated art museums in Japan. The museum is located in Higashiyama Ward in Kyoto. The collections of the Kyoto National Museum focus on pre-modern Japanese and Asian art....

(1895).

In 1920, a group of young architects formed the first organisation of modernist architects. They were known as the Bunriha, literally "Secessionist group", inspired in part by the Vienna Secessionists. These architects were worried about the reliance on historical styles and decoration and instead encouraged artistic expression. They drew their influence from European movements like Expressionism

Expressionism

Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...

and the Bauhaus

Bauhaus

', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...

and helped pave the way towards the introduction of the International Style

International style (architecture)

of Modernism.

In the Taishō

Taisho period

The , or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Taishō Emperor. The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen to the Diet...

and early Shōwa

Showa period

The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...

periods two influential American architects worked in Japan. The first was Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

who designed the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo

Imperial Hotel, Tokyo

The Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, Japan, was created in the late 1880s at the request of the Japanese aristocracy to cater to the increasing number of western visitors to Japan. The hotel site is located just south of the Imperial Palace grounds, next to the previous location of the Palace moat...

(1913–1923) and the Yodokō Guest House

Yodokō Guest House

The Yodokō Guest House was built as the summer villa for the well-to-do brewer of Sakura-Masamune sake, Tazaemon Yamamura, and is the only surviving Frank Lloyd Wright residence in Japan...

(1924), both of which used locally quarried Ōya stone

Oya stone

is a igneous rock, created from lava and ash. Ōya stone was famously used in the facing of Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. One reason this stone was used is because it has a warm texture and is easily carved, which allows much versatility...

. The second was Antonin Raymond

Antonin Raymond

Antonin Raymond, or , born: was a Czech architect, who lived and worked in the USA and Japan...

who worked for Wright on the Imperial Hotel before leaving to set up his own practice in Tōkyō. Although his early works like Tōkyō Women's Christian College show Wright's influence, he soon began to experiment with the use of in-situ reinforced concrete, detailing it in way that recalled traditional Japanese construction methods. Between 1933 and 1937 Bruno Taut

Bruno Taut

Bruno Julius Florian Taut , was a prolific German architect, urban planner and author active during the Weimar period....

stayed in Japan. His writings, especially those on Katsura Imperial Villa

Katsura Imperial Villa

The , or Katsura Detached Palace, is a villa with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan...

reevaluated traditional Japanese architecture whilst bringing it to a wider audience.

As in the Meiji era experience from abroad was gained by Japanese architects working in Europe. Among these were Kunio Maekawa

Kunio Maekawa

was a Japanese architect.-Formative years:He entered First Tokyo Middle School in 1918, and then Tokyo Imperial University in 1925. After graduation in 1928, he travelled to France to apprentice with Le Corbusier. In 1930 he returned to Japan and worked with Antonin Raymond, and in 1935 established...

and Junzo Sakakura

Junzo Sakakura

was a Japanese architect and former president of the Architectural Association of Japan.After graduating from university he worked in Le Corbusier's atelier in Paris. He rose to the position of studio chief during his seven year stay in the studio....

who worked at Le Corbusier's

Le Corbusier

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...

atelier in Paris and Bunzō Yamaguchi and Chikatada Kurata who worked with Walter Gropius

Walter Gropius

Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....

.

Some architects built their reputation upon works of public architecture. Togo Murano

Togo Murano

was a Japanese architect. He was a modernist but also a master of the sukiya style. His work incorporated large public buildings as well as hotels and department stores and he has been recognised as one of Japan's Modern Masters.-Life:...

, a contemporary of Raymond, was influenced by Rationalism

Rationalism (architecture)

The intellectual principles of rationalism are based on architectural theory. Vitruvius had already established in his work De Architectura that architecture is a science that can be comprehended rationally. This formulation was taken up and further developed in the architectural treatises of the...

and designed the Morigo Shoten office building, Tōkyō (1931) and Ube Public Hall, Yamaguchi Prefecture (1937). Similarly, Tetsuro Yoshida's rationalist modern architecture included the Tōkyō Central Post Office (1931) and Ōsaka Central Post Office (1939).

Running contrary to modernism in Japan was the so-called Imperial Crown Style (teikan yoshiki). Buildings in this style were characterised by having a Japanese-style roof such as the Tōkyō Imperial Museum

Tokyo National Museum

Established 1872, the , or TNM, is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. The museum collects, houses, and preserves a comprehensive collection of art works and archaeological objects of Asia, focusing on Japan. The museum holds over 110,000 objects, which includes 87 Japanese National Treasure...

(1937) by Hiroshi Watanabe. The increasingly militaristic government insisted that major buildings be designed in a "Japanese Style" limiting opportunities for modernist design to works of infrastructure such as Bunzō Yamaguchi's Number 2 Power Plant for the Kurobe Dam

Kurobe dam

The or , is a variable-radius arch dam on the Kurobe River in Toyama Prefecture on the island of Honshū, Japan. It supports the 335 MW Kurobe No. 4 Hydropower Plant and is owned by Kansai Electric Power Company. At high, it is the tallest dam in Japan. It was constructed between 1956 and 1963 at...

, (1938).

Late Showa period

After the war and under the influence of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers

Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers

Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the Occupation of Japan following World War II...

, General Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...

, Japanese political and religious life was reformed to produce a demilitarised and democratic country. Although a new constitution

Constitution of Japan

The is the fundamental law of Japan. It was enacted on 3 May, 1947 as a new constitution for postwar Japan.-Outline:The constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government and guarantees certain fundamental rights...

was established in 1947, it was not until the beginning of the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

that Japan (as an ally of the United States) saw a growth in its economy brought about by the manufacture of industrial goods. In 1946 the Prefabricated Housing Association was formed to try and address the chronic shortage of housing, and architects like Kunio Maekawa submitted designs. However it was not until the passing of the Public Housing Act in 1951 that housing built by the private sector was supported in law by the government. Also in 1946, the War Damage Rehabilitation Board put forward ideas for the reconstruction of thirteen Japanese cities. Architect Kenzō Tange

Kenzo Tange

submitted proposals for Hiroshima

Hiroshima

is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...

and Maebashi

Maebashi, Gunma

is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, Japan.The city was founded on April 1, 1892, by the samurai Makuba Kawai.On December 5, 2004 the town of Ōgo, and the villages of Kasukawa and Miyagi, all from Seta District, were merged into Maebashi....

.

In 1949, Tange's winning competition entry to design the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in central Hiroshima, Japan.It was established in August 1955 with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall ....

gave him international acclaim. The project (completed in 1955) led to a series of commissions including the Kagawa Prefectural Office Building in Takamatsu (1958) and Old Kurashiki City Hall (1960). At this time both Tange and Maekawa were interested in the tradition of Japanese architecture and the influence of local character. This was illustrated at Kagawa with elements of Heian period design fused with the International Style.

In 1955, Le Corbusier was asked by the Japanese government to design the National Museum of Western Art in Tōkyō. He was assisted by his three former students: Maekawa, Sakakura and Takamasa Yoshizaka

Takamasa Yoshizaka

, family name also romanized as Yosizaka, was a Japanese architect and former president of the Architectural Institute of Japan and a keen mountaineer....

. The design was based upon Le Corbusier's museum in Ahmedabab

Sanskar Kendra

Sanskar Kendra is a museum located in the city of Ahmedabad in India. Designed by the renowned architect Le Corbusier, it is a city museum depicting history, art, culture and architecture of Ahmedabad. The campus is located at the junction of Sardar Bridge and the River Sabarmati.The museum rests...

, and both of the museums are square and raised on piloti

Piloti

Pilotis, or piers, are supports such as columns, pillars, or stilts that lift a building above ground or water. They are traditionally found in stilt and pole dwellings such as fishermen's huts in Asia and Scandinavia using wood and in elevated houses such as Old Queenslanders in Australia's...

.

Due largely to the influence of Tange, the 1960 World Design Conference was held in Tōkyō. A small group of Japanese designers who came to represent the Metabolist Movement

Metabolist Movement

presented their manifesto and a series of projects. The group included the architects Kiyonori Kikutake

Kiyonori Kikutake

is a prominent Japanese architect known as one of the founders of the Japanese Metabolist group. He has also been the tutor and employer of several important Japanese architects, such as Toyo Ito and Itsuko Hasegawa.-Career:...

, Masato Ōtaka, Kisho Kurokawa and Fumihiko Maki

Fumihiko Maki

is a Japanese architect and currently teaching at Keio University SFC.- Biography :After studying at the University of Tokyo he moved to the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and then to Harvard Graduate School of Design. In 1956, he took a post as assistant professor of...

. Originally known as the Burnt Ash School, the Metabolists associated themselves with idea of renewal and regeneration, rejecting visual representations of the past and promoting the idea that the individual, the house and the city were all parts of a single organism. Although the individual members of the group went in their own directions after a few years the enduring nature of their publications meant that they had a longer presence overseas. The international symbol of the Metabolists, the capsule, emerged as an idea in the late 1960s and was demonstrated in Kurokawa's Nakagin Capsule Tower

Nakagin Capsule Tower

The is a mixed-use residential and office tower designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa and located in Shimbashi, Tokyo, Japan.Completed in 1972, the building is a rare built example of Japanese Metabolism, a movement that became emblematic of Japan's postwar cultural resurgence. The building was...

in Tōkyō in 1972.

In the 1960s Japan saw the both the rise and the expansion of large construction firms, including the Shimizu Corporation

Shimizu Corporation

is a leading architectural, engineering and general contracting firm, offering an integrated, comprehensive planning, design and build solutions for a broad range of construction and engineering projects worldwide...

and Kajima. Nikken Sekkei

Nikken Sekkei

is a Japanese architecture firm headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo.-External links:*, official site...

emerged as a comprehensive company that often included elements of Metabolist design in its buildings.

During the 1960s there were also architects who did not see the world of architecture in terms of Metabolism. For example Kazuo Shinohara

Kazuo Shinohara

was a highly influential Japanese architect, forming what is now widely known as the "Shinohara School", which has been linked to the works of Toyo Ito, Kazunari Sakamoto and Itsuko Hasegawa. As architectural critic Thomas Daniell put it, "A key figure who explicitly rejected Western influences yet...

specialised in small residential projects in which he explored traditional architecture with simple elements in terms of space, abstraction and symbolism. In the Umbrella House (1961) he explored the spatial relationship between the doma

Minka

(earth-paved internal floor) and the raised tatami

Tatami

floor in the living room and sleeping room. This relationship was explored further with the House with an Earthen floor (1963) where a tamped-down earthen floor was included in the kitchen area. His use of a roof to anchor his design for the House in White (1966) has been compared with Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Houses. Shinohara explored these abstractions as "Three Styles", which were periods of design that stretched from the early sixties to the mid seventies.

A former employee of Kenzo Tange was Arata Isozaki

Arata Isozaki

Arata Isozaki is a Japanese architect from Ōita. He graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1954. Isozaki worked under Kenzo Tange before establishing his own firm in 1963. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1986.In 2005, Arata Isozaki founded the Italian branch of his office: Arata Isozaki &...

who was initially interested in the Metabolist Movement and produced innovative theoretical projects for the City in the Air (1961) and Future City (1962). However he soon moved away from this towards a more Mannerist approach similar to the work of James Stirling

James Stirling (architect)

Sir James Frazer Stirling FRIBA was a British architect. He is considered to be among the most important and influential British architects of the second half of the 20th century...

. This was particularly striking at the Oita Branch for Fukuoka Mutual (1967) with its mathematical grids, concrete construction and exposed services. In the Gunma Prefectural Museum (1971–74) he experimented with cubic elements (some of them twelve metres to a side) overlaid by a secondary grid expressed by the external wall panels and fenestration. This rhythm of panelling may have been influenced by Corbusier's detailing on the Museum of Western Art in Tōkyō.

Japanese cities where they lack European-like piazza

Piazza

A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza...

s and squares often emphasise the relationship of people with the everyday workings of the street. Fumihiko Maki was one of a number of architects who were interested in the relationship of architecture and the city and this can be seen in works like Ōsaka Prefectural Sports Centre (1972) and Spiral

Spiral (building)

Spiral is a building by architect Fumihiko Maki in Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan. It was commissioned by lingerie company Wacoal and was completed in 1985. It is a multi-use building, with gallery space, multipurpose hall, cafe, restaurant and bar, salon, and shops...

in Tōkyō (1985). Likewise, Takefuma Aida (member of the group known as ArchiteXt) rejected the ideas of the Metabolist Movement and explored urban semiology.

In the late seventies and early eighties Tadao Ando's

Tadao Ando

is a Japanese architect whose approach to architecture was once categorized by Francesco Dal Co as critical regionalism. Ando has led a storied life, working as a truck driver and boxer prior to settling on the profession of architecture, despite never having taken formal training in the field...

architecture and theoretical writings explored the idea of Critical regionalism

Critical regionalism

Critical Regionalism is an approach to architecture that strives to counter placelessness and lack of identity in Modern Architecture by utilizing the building's geographical context...

- the idea of promoting local or national culture within architecture. Ando's interpretation of this was demonstrated by his idea of reacquainting the Japanese house with nature, a relationship he thought had been lost with Modernist architecture. His first projects were for small urban houses with enclosed courtyards (such as the Azuma House in Ōsaka in 1976). His architecture is characterised by the use of concrete, but it has been important for him to use the interplay of light, through time, with this and other materials in his work. His ideas about the integration of nature converted well into larger projects such as the Rokkō Housing 1 (1983) (on a steep site on Mount Rokkō

Mount Rokko

is a name of a group of mountains in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. This mountain is one of Hyōgo 50 mountains, Kinki 100 mountains, and also one of the 300 famous mountains in Japan.- Outline :...

) and the Church on the Water (1988) in Tomamu, Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

.

The late eighties saw the first work by architects of the so-called "Shinohara" school. This included Toyō Itō

Toyo Ito

is a Japanese architect known for creating conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to simultaneously express the physical and virtual worlds. He is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses the contemporary notion of a "simulated" city, and has been called "one of the world's most...

and Itsuko Hasegawa

Itsuko Hasegawa

is a noted Japanese architect.-Biography:Hasegawa was born in Shizuoka, received her degree in architecture from Kanto Gakuin University , trained with Kiyonori Kikutake. In 1969, Hasegawa entered Kazuo Shinohara’s lab at the Tokyo Institute of Technology as a graduate student...

who were both interested in urban life and the contemporary city. Itō concentrated on the dynamism and mobility of the city's "urban nomads" with projects like the Tower of Winds (1986) which integrated natural elements like light and wind with those of technology. Hasegawa concentrated on what she termed "architecture as another nature". Her Shōnandai Cultural Centre in Fujisawa (1991) combined the natural environment with new high-tech materials.

Highly individualist architects of the late eighties included the monumental buildings of Shin Takamatsu

Shin Takamatsu

Shin Takamatsu is a leading Japanese architect and professor at Kyoto University. Takamatsu's futuristic looking buildings often use anthropomorphic or mechanical imagery.-Notable projects:* Origin I, II, III, Kyoto, 1980-1986...

and the "cosmic" work of Masaharu Takasaki. Takasaki, who worked with the Austrian architect Günther Domenig

Günther Domenig

Günther Domenig is an Austrian architect.Domenig studied architecture at the Technische Universität, Graz , and after working as an architectural assistant, set up in practice with Eilfried Huth , producing highly regarded buildings in a brutalist vein...

in the 1970s shares Domenig's organic architecture. His Zero Cosmology House of 1991 in Kagoshima Prefecture

Kagoshima Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. The capital is the city of Kagoshima.- Geography :Kagoshima Prefecture is located at the southwest tip of Kyushu and includes a chain of islands stretching further to the southwest for a few hundred kilometers...

constructed from concrete has a contemplative egg-shaped "zero space" at its centre.

Early Heisei period

The Heisei period began with the collapse of the so-called "bubble economy"

Economic bubble

An economic bubble is "trade in high volumes at prices that are considerably at variance with intrinsic values"...

that had previously boosted Japan's economy. Commissions for commercial works of architecture virtually dried up and architects relied upon government and prefectural

Prefectures of Japan

The prefectures of Japan are the country's 47 subnational jurisdictions: one "metropolis" , Tokyo; one "circuit" , Hokkaidō; two urban prefectures , Osaka and Kyoto; and 43 other prefectures . In Japanese, they are commonly referred to as...

organisations to provide projects.

Building on elements from the Shōnandai Culture Centre, Itsuko Hasegawa undertook a number cultural and community centres throughout Japan. These included the Sumida Cultural Centre (1995) and the Fukuroi Community Centre (2001) where she involved the public in the process of design whilst exploring her own ideas about the filtration of light through the external walls into the interior. In his 1995 competition win for Sendai Mediatheque

Sendai Mediatheque

Sendai Mediatheque is a library in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It was designed by Toyo Ito in 1995 and completed in 2001.-History:The Sendai Mediatheque held its official opening on January 26, 2001, however the initial impetus for the project began as early as August, 1989 when the Arts...

, Toyō Itō continued his earlier thoughts about fluid dynamics within the modern city with "seaweed-like" columns supporting a seven story building wrapped in glass. His work later in the period, for example, the library to Tama Art University

Tama Art University

is a private university in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1935 as a spinoff from what is today Musashino Art University...

in Tōkyō in 2007 demonstrates more expressive forms, rather than the engineered aesthetic of his earlier works.

Although Tadao Ando became well known for his use of concrete, he began the decade designing the Japanese pavilion at the Seville Exposition 1992

Seville Expo '92

The Universal Exposition of Seville took place from Monday, April 20 to Monday, October 12, 1992 on La Isla de La Cartuja , Seville, Spain. The theme for the Expo was "The Age of Discovery" and over 100 countries were represented...

, with a building that was hailed as "the largest wooden structure in the world". He continued with this medium in projects for the Museum of Wood Culture, Kami, Hyōgo Prefecture (1994) and the Komyo-ji Shrine in Saijo (2001).

The UK practice, Foreign Office Architects

Foreign Office Architects

Foreign Office Architects, FOA, was an internationally acclaimed architectural design studio headed by former husband and wife team Farshid Moussavi and Alejandro Zaera-Polo. The London based studio, which was established in 1993, specialised in architectural design, master planning and interior...

won an international competition in 1994 to design the Yokohama International Port Terminal

Osanbashi Pier

is the main international pier at the Port of Yokohama, located in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan. Ōsanbashi is the oldest pier in Yokohama, originally constructed between 1889 and 1896.To meet modern demands, Ōsanbashi was reconstructed between 1987 and 2002...

. It is an undulating structure that emerges from the surrounding city and forms a building to walk over as well as into. Klein Dytham Architecture are one of a handful of foreign architects who have managed to gain a strong foothold in Japan. Their design for Moku Moku Yu (literally "wood wood steam"), a communal bathhouse in Kobuchizawa, Yamanashi Prefecture in 2004 is a series of interconnected circular pools and changing rooms, flat roofed and clad in coloured vertical timbers.

After the 1995 Kōbe earthquake

Great Hanshin earthquake

The Great Hanshin earthquake, or Kobe earthquake, was an earthquake that occurred on Tuesday, January 17, 1995, at 05:46 JST in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It measured 6.8 on the moment magnitude scale , and Mj7.3 on JMA magnitude scale. The tremors lasted for approximately 20...

, Shigeru Ban

Shigeru Ban

Shigeru Ban is an accomplished Japanese and international architect, most famous for his innovative work with paper, particularly recycled cardboard paper tubes used to quickly and efficiently house disaster victims...

developed cardboard tubes that could be used to quickly construct refugee shelters that were dubbed "Paper Houses". Also as part of that relief effort he designed a church using 58 cardboard tubes that were 5m high and had a tensile roof that opened up like an umbrella. The church was erected by Roman Catholic volunteers in five weeks. For the Nomadic Museum

Nomadic Museum

The Nomadic Museum is a purpose-built temporary structure used to house the Ashes and Snow photography and film exhibition by Gregory Colbert.Gregory Colbert originally conceived of the idea for a sustainable traveling museum in 1999...

, Ban used walls made of shipping containers, stacked four high and joined at the corners with twist connectors that produced a checkerboard effect of solid and void. The ancillary spaces were made with paper tubes and honeycomb panels. The museum was design to be disassembled and it subsequently moved from New York, to Santa Monica, Tōkyō and Mexico.

Historian and architect Terunobu Fujimori's

Terunobu Fujimori

is a Japanese architect and architectural historian.During the 1970s and 80s he made studies of the city about early Western buildings and unusual occurrences and did not turn to architecture until he was in his forties...

studies in the 1980s into so-called architectural curios found in the city inspired the work of a younger generation of architects such as the founders of Atelier Bow-Wow

Atelier Bow-Wow

Atelier Bow-Wow is a Tokyo-based architecture firm, founded in 1992 by Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kajima. The firm is well known for its domestic and cultural architecture and its research exploring the urban conditions of micro, ad hoc architecture....

. Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kajima surveyed the city for "no-good" architecture for their book Made in Tokyo in 2001. Their work in turn seeks to embrace its context rather than block it out. Although their office in Tōkyō is on a tight site they have welcomed the city in with huge windows and spacious porches.

Sou Fujimoto's architecture relies upon a manipulation of basic building blocks to produce a geometric primitivism

Primitivism

Primitivism is a Western art movement that borrows visual forms from non-Western or prehistoric peoples, such as Paul Gauguin's inclusion of Tahitian motifs in paintings and ceramics...

. His buildings are very sensitive to the topographical form of their context and include a series of houses as well as a children's home in Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

.

Two former employees of Toyō Itō, Kazuyo Sejima

Kazuyo Sejima

is a Japanese architect. After studying at Japan Women's University and working in the office of Toyo Ito, in 1987 she founded Kazuyo Sejima and Associates. In 1995 she founded the Tokyo-based firm SANAA together with her former employee Ryue Nishizawa...

and Ryue Nishizawa

Ryue Nishizawa

is an Japanese architect based in Tokyo. He is a graduate of Yokohama National University, and is director of his own firm, Office of Ryue Nishizawa, established in 1997. In 1995, he co-founded the firm SANAA with the architect Kazuyo Sejima...

formed a collaborative partnership in 1995 called SANAA. They are known for creating lightweight, transparent spaces that expose the fluidity and movement of their occupants. Their Dior store in Shibuya, Tōkyō, in 2001 was reminiscent of Itō's Mediatheque, with cool white acrylic sheets on the external facade that filter the light and partially reveal the store's contents. Their dynamic of fluidity is demonstrated by the Rolex Learning Centre

Rolex Learning Center

The Rolex Learning Center is the campus hub and library for the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne , in Lausanne, Switzerland. Designed by the architects SANAA, it opened on February 22nd, 2010.-The library:...

at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

The École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.The school was founded by the Swiss Federal Government with the stated mission to:...

, completed in 2010. This building has an undulating floor plane set under a continuous concrete shell roof that was poured in one go over two days. The plan is like a biological cell punctuated with tables and courtyards alike. In 2009 they designed the Serpentine Gallery

Serpentine Gallery

The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. It focuses on modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year...

Pavilion in London that comprised a reflective, floating aluminium roof supported by slender columns.

Japanese interior design

Japanese interior design has a unique aesthetic derived from Taoism

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

, particularly Zen Buddhism, specific religious figures and the west. This aesthetic has in turn influenced western style, particularly Modernism.

Traditional Japanese aesthetic

What is generally identified as the Japanese aesthetic stems from ideals of Taoism

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

, imported from China in ancient times. Japanese culture is extremely diverse, as evidenced by the difference between Noh

Noh

, or - derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent" - is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and...

theatre and Kabuki

Kabuki

is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

theatre. Despite this, in terms on the interior, the aesthetic is one of simplicity and minimalism.

The specific idea that a room’s true beauty is in the empty space within the roof and walls came from Laozi

Laozi

Laozi was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching . His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of Taoism...

, a philosopher and the founder of Taoism

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

, who held to the “aesthetic ideal of emptiness”, believing that the mood should be captured in the imagination, and not so heavily dictated by what is physically present. Japanese design is based strongly on craftsmanship, beauty, elaboration, and delicacy. The design of interiors is very simple but made with attention to detail and intricacy. This sense of intricacy and simplicity in Japanese designs is still valued in modern Japan as it was in traditional Japan.

Interiors are very simple, highlighting minimal and natural decoration. Traditional Japanese interiors, as well as modern, incorporate mainly natural materials including fine woods, bamboo, silk, rice straw mats, and paper shōji

Shoji

In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo...

screens. Natural materials are used to keep simplicity in the space that connects to nature. Natural color schemes are used and neutral palettes including black, white, off-white, gray, and brown. http://www.designsojourn.com/how-japanese-culture-influences-their-designs/

Impermanence is a strong theme in traditional Japanese dwellings. The size of rooms can be altered by interior sliding walls or screens, the already mentioned shōji. Cupboards built smoothly into the wall hide futon

Futon

Futon is an English word derived from Japanese , a term generally referring to the traditional style of Japanese bedding consisting of padded mattresses and quilts pliable enough to be folded and stored away during the day, allowing the room to serve for purposes other than as a bedroom...

, mattresses pulled out before going to bed, allowing more space to be available during the day. The versatility of these dwellings becomes more apparent with changes of seasons. In summer, for example, exterior walls can be opened to bring the garden and cooling breezes in. The minimal decoration also alters seasonally, with a different scroll hanging or new flower arrangement.

The Japanese aesthetic developed further with the celebration of imperfection and insufficiency, characteristics resulting from the natural ageing process or darkening effect. Shinto

Shinto

, the indigenous religious tradition of Japan, provides a basis for the appreciation of these qualities, holding to a philosophy of appreciation of life and the world. Sei Shōnagon

Sei Shonagon

Sei Shōnagon , was a Japanese author and a court lady who served the Empress Teishi around the year 1000 during the middle Heian period. She is best known as the author of The Pillow Book .-Name:...

was a trend-setting court lady of the tenth century who wrote in ‘The Pillow Book

The Pillow Book

is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Empress Consort Teishi during the 990s and early 11th century in Heian Japan. The book was completed in the year 1002....

’ of her dislike for “a new cloth screen with a colourful and cluttered painting of many cherry blossoms”, preferring instead to notice “that one’s elegant Chinese mirror has become a little cloudy". Her taste was not out of place in the ancient Japanese court and in the twelfth century, a retired Buddhist monk, Yoshida Kenkō

Yoshida Kenko

was a Japanese author and Buddhist monk. His most famous work is "Tsurezuregusa" , one of the most studied works of medieval Japanese literature. Kenko wrote during the Muromachi and Kamakura periods.-Life and work:...

, exerted his influence on Japanese aesthetic sensibility resulting from his philosophy of life. He asked, “Are we to look at cherry blossoms only in full bloom, the moon only when it is cloudless? ...Branches about to blossom or garden strewn with faded flowers are worthier of our admiration.” The incomplete is also praised by Kenkō, “uniformity and completeness are undesirable”. Underpinning or complimenting these aesthetic ideals, is the valuing of contrast; when imperfection or the impoverished is contrasted with perfection or opulence, each is emphasised and thus better appreciated.

Traditional materials of the interior

Japanese interior design is very efficient in the use of resources. Traditional and modern Japanese interiors have been flexible in use and designed mostly with natural materials. The spaces are used as multifunctional rooms. The rooms can be opened to create more space for a particular occasion or for more privacy, or vice versa closed-off by pulling closed paper screens called shōji

Shoji

In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo...

.

A large portion of Japanese interior walls are often made of shōji screens that can be pushed opened to join two rooms together, and then close them allowing more privacy. The shōji screens are made of paper attached to thin wooden frames that roll away on a track when they are pushed. Another important feature of the shōji screen, besides privacy and seclusion, is that they allow light through. This is an important aspect to Japanese design. Paper translucent walls allow light to be diffused through the space and create light shadows and patterns.

Tatami

Tatami

mats are rice straw floor mats often used to cover the floor in Japan’s interiors; in modern Japanese houses there are usually only one or two tatami rooms. Another way to connect rooms in Japan’s interiors is through sliding panels made of wood and paper, like the 'shōji screens, or cloth. These panels are called fusuma

Fusuma

and are used as an entire wall. They are traditionally hand painted.

Tatami are the basis of traditional Japanese architecture, regulating a building's size and dimensions. They originated in ancient Japan when straw was laid on bare earth as a softener and warmer. In the Heian Period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

(794-1185), this idea developed into moveable mats that could be laid anywhere in the house to sit or sleep on before becoming a permanent floor covering in the fifteenth century. Tatami are suitable for the Japanese climate because they let air circulate around the floor.

Bamboo

Bamboo

Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....

is prominently used and even expected in the Japanese house, used both for decorative and functional purposes. Bamboo blinds, sudare

Sudare

are screens or blinds. They are sometimes called as well, particularly if they have a green fabric hem. Sudare are made of horizontal slats of decorative wood, bamboo, or other natural material woven together with simple string, colored yarn, or other decorative material to make nearly solid...

, replace shoji

Shoji

In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo...

in summer to prevent excess heat inside and also offer greater ventilation. Country dwellings and farmhouses often use it for ceilings and rafters. The natural properties of bamboo, its raw beauty with the knots and smooth surface, corrrspond to Japanese aesthetic ideals of imperfection, contrast and the natural.

The use of paper, or washi

Washi

is a type of paper made in Japan. Washi is commonly made using fibers from the bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub , or the paper mulberry, but also can be made using bamboo, hemp, rice, and wheat...

, in Japanese buildings is a main component in the beauty and atmosphere of the Japanese interior, the way variation of shadow combines to create a “mystery of shadows”. A range of papers are used for various purposes in the home.

Wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

is generally used for the framework of the home, but its properties are valuable in the Japanese aesthetic, namely its warmth and irregularity.

A recessed space called tokonoma

Tokonoma

is often present in traditional as well as modern Japanese living rooms. This is the focus of the room and displays Japanese art, usually a painting or calligraphy.

Western influence

After the Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

of 1868, Japan relations to Euro-American powers became more prominent and involved. This spilled into a broader interacting with the modern world, which in terms of interior design, resulted in the introduction of western style interiors, while the vernacular style came to be more associated with tradition and the past. The typical interiors found in Japanese homes and western homes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were vastly different with almost opposing attitudes to furniture, versatility of space and materials.

Many public spaces had begun to incorporate chairs and desks by the late nineteenth century, department stores adopted western-style displays; a new “urban visual and consumer culture” was emerging. In the domestic sphere, the manner and dress of inhabitants were determined by the interior style, Japanese or Western.

There was a push by bureaucrats for Japan to develop into a more “modern” (Western) culture. The modernising of the home was considered the best way to change the daily life of the people. Much of the reason for modernisation was a desire to “present a ‘civilised’ face to the world, thus helping to secure Japan’s position as a modern nation in the world order”. Even with governmental encouragement to transform the home, the majority Japanese people still lived in fairly traditional style dwellings well into the 1920s, partly due to economic situation in the early 1910s that meant western style was out of reach for the majority of people.
It was also difficult to incorporate furniture into traditional dwellings due to their small size and intended flexible use of space, a flexibility made difficult to maintain when bulky furniture was involved; it was impractical, but aesthetically incongruent too.

Influence on the West

Some of the earliest influence on the west came in the form of Japanese art, which gained popularity in Europe in particular, in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In terms of architecture and interior design though, the influence on the west is much more centred on the United States of America.

Before the twentieth century, very little of the west’s knowledge of the Japanese building was gained in Japan. Instead it was gained through exhibitions the Japanese partook in such as the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia

Centennial Exposition

The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...

. The early influence of such exhibitions was more in the creation of an enthusiasm for things Japanese instead of something more authentic. The result was exuberant Japanese decoration, the simplicity of Japanese design lost in the clutter of Victorian ostentation.

During the twentieth century though, a number of now renowned architects visited Japan including Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

, Ralph Adams Cram

Ralph Adams Cram

Ralph Adams Cram FAIA, , was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partnerships in which he worked.-Early life:Cram was born on December 16, 1863 at Hampton Falls, New...

, Richard Neutra

Richard Neutra

Richard Joseph Neutra is considered one of modernism's most important architects.- Biography :Neutra was born in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Vienna, Austria Hungary, on April 8, 1892. He was born into both-Jewish wealthy family...

and Antonin Raymond

Antonin Raymond

Antonin Raymond, or , born: was a Czech architect, who lived and worked in the USA and Japan...

. These architects, among others, played significant roles in bringing the Japanese influence to western modernism. Influence from the Far East was not new in America at this time. During the eighteenth and a large part of the nineteenth centuries, a taste for Chinese art and architecture existed and often resulted in a “superficial copying”. The Japanese influence was different however. The modernist context, and the time leading up to it, meant that architects were more concerned with “the problem of building, rather than in the art of ornamenting”. The simplicity of Japanese dwellings contrasted the oft-esteemed excessive decoration of the West. The influence of Japanese design was thus not so much that it was directly copied but rather, “the west discovered the quality of space in traditional Japanese architecture through a filter of western architectural values”.
The culture that created traditional Japanese architecture is so far removed from western values philosophies of life that it could not be directly applied in a design context.

External links

JAANUS (Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System) on-line dictionary of Japanese architectural and art historical terminology
The Herbert Offen Research Collection of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum

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General features of Japanese traditional architecture

Prehistoric period

Asuka and Nara architecture

Heian period

Kamakura and Muromachi periods

Azuchi-Momoyama period

Edo period

Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa periods

Late Showa period

Early Heisei period

Japanese interior design

Traditional Japanese aesthetic

Traditional materials of the interior

Western influence

Influence on the West

Further reading

External links