Japanese architecture

Introduction
General characteristics
The formative period
- The Jōmon period
- The Yayoi period
- The Tumulus period
The Asuka period
The Hakuhō period
The Nara period
The Heian period
- Esoteric Buddhism
- Amidism
The Kamakura period
The Muromachi period
The Azuchi-Momoyama period
The Tokugawa, or Edo, period
The modern period

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

The main building (kondo) at Horyu-ji Temple in Ikaruga, Nara, Japan, features multi-tiered, tiled roofs and wooden architectural details on a stone base.

wood-and-stucco pagoda at the Hōryū Temple complex

Xavier and the Western Princes on Horseback

Torii (gateway) to the Futarasan Shrine in Nikkō, Japan.

Quizzes

Hagia Sophia. Istanbul, Turkey. Constantinople. Church of the Holy Wisdom. Church of the Divine Wisdom. Mosque.

Architecture: The Built World

Torii gate at entrance to a Shinto shrine on Mount Hakone, east-central Honshu, Japan. (gateways)

Everything in Art and Design (Part Four) Quiz

Related Questions

How are the Ise Shrine and Izumo-taisha connected to early shrine architecture?
How did Buddhist and Chinese architectural techniques influence Shintō shrines after the 9th century?
How did Chinese vermilion-lacquered styles appear in Buddhistic Shintō shrines?
How did Hermann Ende and Wilhelm Böckmann contribute to government architecture in Tokyo?
How did Japanese aesthetics influence Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius?
How did Japanese gardens reflect Buddhist, Shintō, and Zen ideas?
How did Kamakura-period gardens shift from imitation toward creative landscape design?
How did Shintō beliefs about nature shape Japanese architecture?
How did Tange Kenzō connect traditional Japanese forms with modern design for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics?
How did Tokyo Station reflect Western influence on Japanese architecture?
How did early Shintō worship take place before permanent shrine buildings were built?
How did fusuma sliding doors allow rooms in Japanese houses to be rearranged?
How did seasonal changes affect the decoration of a tokonoma?
How did sliding shōji partitions change the use of space in Japanese homes?
How did steel-reinforced concrete change Japanese architecture during the Taishō period?
How did tatami mats influence the furniture used in Japanese houses?
How did tea gardens prepare guests for the Japanese tea ceremony?
How did the Katsura Imperial Villa combine Heian-period styles with tea ceremony architecture?
How did the Meiji Restoration change Japanese architecture?
How did the Tokugawa shogunate influence architecture in Edo-period Japan?
How did the blending of Buddhism and Shintō affect religious buildings in Japan?
How did traditional Japanese buildings blur the boundary between indoors and outdoors?
How do kare-sansui gardens use rocks, gravel, and sand to suggest water?
How does Andō Tadao integrate buildings with nature?
What are the main parts of a Shintō shrine complex?
What happens in the heiden of a Shintō shrine?
What is a chigi, and where does it appear on a Shintō shrine?
What is displayed in a tokonoma alcove in a traditional Japanese reception room?
What is the purpose of komainu statues at Shintō shrines?
What role did the chigai-dana shelves play in a traditional Japanese interior?
What role does the honden serve in a Shintō shrine?
Which architectural features combined Western scale with traditional Japanese design in the Kabuki Theatre of 1924?
Which buildings did Tatsuno Kingo design in Tokyo?
Why are stone lanterns placed at Japanese shrines?
Why are traditional Japanese rooms measured by the size of floor mats?
Why are verandas and sliding panels important features of Japanese architecture?
Why did Japan adopt Western architectural styles during the Meiji period?
Why did Japanese architects combine tiled hip-gabled roofs with Western-style buildings?
Why does a torii stand at the entrance to a Shintō shrine?
Why is the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu at Nikkō known for its elaborate decoration?
Why was the Katsura Imperial Villa important to Walter Gropius?
Why were Buddhist temples and pagodas sometimes built near Shintō shrines?
Why were Shintō shrines built inside Buddhist temple compounds?
Why were asymmetry and economy of movement important in traditional Japanese interiors?
Why were the Tokyo National Museum and the Diet Building seen as examples of monumental 1930s architecture?
Why were weathered materials valued in Japanese architectural aesthetics?

Visual Arts Architecture

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Encyclopedia of Japan - Japanese Architecture

Japanese architecture

Written by

James T. Ulak

Curator of Japanese Art, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sakler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Coauthor of Asian Art in the Art Institute of Chicago; Reflections of Reality in...

James T. Ulak

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

Japanese architecture, the built structures of Japan and their context. A pervasive characteristic of Japanese architecture—and, indeed, of all the visual arts of Japan—is an understanding of the natural world as a source of spiritual insight and an instructive mirror of human emotion. An indigenous religious sensibility that long preceded Buddhism perceived that a spiritual realm was manifest in nature. Rock outcroppings, waterfalls, and gnarled old trees were viewed as the abodes of spirits and...

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