RIDGEWOOD ARCHITECTURE CLUB PRESENTS

JAPANESE
ARCHITECTURE
A LECTURE

R I D G E W O O D P R I M A R Y S C H O O L
 CONTENT

INTRODUCTION ARCHITECTS

G E N E R A L F E AT U R E S EDO AND ASUKA

HISTORIC PERIOD RELIGION & TEMPLES

INTRODUCTION
TO JAPANESE
ARCHITECTURE

Japanese architecture has traditionally been typified by wooden structures,

elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors
(fusuma) were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a

space to be customized for different occasions. People usually sat on cushions or

o t h e r w i s e o n t h e f l o o r, t r a d i t i o n a l l y ; c h a i r s a n d h i g h t a b l e s w e r e n o t w i d e l y u s e d
u n t i l t h e 2 0 t h c e n t u r y.
 Much in the traditional architecture of Japan is not native, but was imported from

China and other Asian cultures over the centuries.

The general structure is almost always the same: posts 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 (convexity at the center) limited.

GENERAL FEATURES
of Japanese traditional architecture
 Heijō-kyō, modern day Nara, was founded in 708
as the first permanent capital of the state of Japan.
The layout of its checkerboard streets and
buildings were modeled after the Chinese capital
of 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 Dynasties

Some of the earliest structures still extant in

NAR A Japan are Buddhist temples established at this

time. The oldest surviving wooden buildings in the

PER IOD
world are found at Hōryū-ji, to the southwest of
Nara.

710 - 794
JAPANESE
RELIGION

Most of the Japanese (50% to 80% considering degrees of syncretism with

Buddhism, shinbutsu-shūgō) pray and worship ancestors and gods at Shinto
shrines or private altars, while not identifying as "Shinto" or "Shintoist" in

surveys. This is because these terms have little meaning for the majority of the
Japanese.

Scholars Isomae Jun'ichi and Jason Ānanda Josephson have challenged the
usefulness of the term "religion" in regard to Japanese "traditions". They have

shown that the Japanese term and concept of "religion" (shūkyō) is an invention
o f t h e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y.
 Retain
14%

DID YOU Rebuild

86%

KN OW? 86% of homes in Japan are newly built because they

have no resale value there. As soon as you purchase the

p r o p e r t y, i t s v a l u e b e g i n s t o d e c r e a s e .
 The most significant contributor to architectural
changes during the Asuka period was the
introduction of Buddhism. New temples became
centers of worship with tomb burial practices
slowly becoming outlawed.

Also, Buddhism brought to Japan and kami

worship the idea of permanent shrines and gave to
Shinto architecture much of its present
v o c a b u l a r y. T h i s l a s t s t r u c t u r e i s o f g r e a t
importance as an art-historical cache

The oldest surviving wooden buildings in the

world are found at Hōryū-ji, to the southwest of
Nara. First built in the early 7th century as the
ASUKA
private temple of Crown Prince Shōtoku
PER IOD
538 - 710
You can't really say what is
beautiful about a place, but
the image of the place will
remain vividly with you.

- TA D A O A N D O
 RIDGEWOOD ARCHITECTURE CLUB

THANK YOU!

R I D G E W O O D P R I M A R Y S C H O O L