through the inclusion of Buddhist images and decorative details derived from Indian prototypes. The “stacked umbrellas” which crowned the stupa evolved into the pagoda, a wooden or masonry tower with several roofs, and temple layouts were gradually standardized. Distinctively Chinese sculpture and painting appeared about the same time.
The Korean peninsula in the early centuries AD was divided into several rival kingdoms, all of which maintained varying degrees of contact with and dependence upon the central Chinese authority. One such kingdom, called Koguryo, accepted Buddhism in AD 372, followed by the Paekche kingdom in 384 and Silla in 528. Paekche introduced Buddhism to Japan in 538 (some scholars say 552), when it presented the Japanese ruler with a gilt-bronze statue and a scroll of sutras. The first Korean Buddhist temple carpenter crossed the strait to Japan in AD 577, thereby inaugurating the tradition of Japanese Buddhist architecture.
When thinking about the history and culture of Japan, one must always bear in mind its isolation from the Asian mainland and the unusual cultural relationships that this separation generated, particularly with respect to the Korean peninsula. The strait which divides Japan from the continent often proved a great barrier to migration and the dissemination of ideas, with the result that the technological development occurred at a different pace compared to the rest of Asia or to the Mediterranean basin. Nevertheless, several large waves of migration into Japan during the preliterate period resulted in striking technological leaps.
The inhabitants of Japan during the Paleolithic (Jomon) and Neolithic (Yayoi) periods built homes and other structures out of wood. Jomon people (1000–300 BC) knew only stone tools, did not use what we would consider wooden joints, and did not have much in the way of specialized architecture, although remains of some very large structures have been unearthed. The Yayoi period (300 BC–ad 300) is extremely interesting in that it began with stone technology but witnessed the rapid transition to metal tools introduced from Korea, bronze and iron appearing almost simultaneously. Rice agriculture was also introduced at the beginning of this period, and raised granaries and other building types which required better woodworking tools were built. Nevertheless, stone cutting tools continued to be used in some contexts in Japan until about AD 300.
Unified government, Shintō shrines, and monumental earthwork tombs arose around AD 350, during what was still a preliterate phase that lasted until the arrival of the scroll and statue from Korea in 538. This evolution, of course, did not occur evenly throughout the archipelago, but by the end of the Asuka period in 661 it is estimated that there were some fifty Buddhist sanctuaries in Japan, scattered from northern Kyushu to the central part of the island of Honshu (the western part of present-day Aichi prefecture).
Figure 10 Map of the early Japanese capitals:
1. Naniwa (645–67); 2.Ltsu (667–72);
3. Kiyomihara (672–94); 4. Fujiwara (694–710);
5. Heijō [Nara] (710–84); 6). Nagaoka (784–94);
7. Heian [Kyoto] (794–1868).
The continental architecture introduced along with Buddhism possessed several features that were radically new. The Japanese had until then sunk pillars directly into the ground; Chinese and Korean builders set them atop foundation stones and stone-faced podia. The connections between columns, beams, and rafters, which the Japanese had kept as simple as possible—on smaller structures often merely bound with rope—were replaced by intricate structural bracketing systems. Eaves and other major structural lines, which were usually straight in early Japanese shrines, now took on the typically “Oriental” upswept curve. Roofing tiles made their first appearance, although indigenous thatch and shingle remained in frequent use. And lastly, whereas the Japanese had used only bare wood surfaces, the Koreans and Chinese demonstrated the use of floridly painted wooden members and decorative gilt fittings. We can only imagine how dazzling the new temples must have looked to an average Japanese villager of this period, entering a new Chinese-style capital for the first time and being confronted with the spectacle of polychrome spires and vast tile-covered roofs extending in an uninterrupted vista to the horizon. The experience must have been awe-inducing, an unsettling but intriguing “future shock.”
The building types introduced by the Korean carpenters at the beginning of the ancient period were of two major types: the pagoda, or tower (still housing in its base the nominal relics of the Buddha), and the so-called “golden hall” (housing the temple’s most important paintings and statues of the Buddha). These buildings were surrounded by a roofed corridor or cloister with a prominent gate, and included several other buildings. As mentioned above, the earliest temples were all built in the area of present-day Nara, in or near one of the capital cities (Fig. 10). These earliest temples, which include Asuka-dera and Shitennōji, followed the strict symmetrical layout of their Chinese and Korean prototypes. Although varying in detail, they were all composed to emphasize the soaring pagoda, a means of indicating that the relics of the Buddha in its base were considered more important than his statue housed in the golden hall.
Even at this early period, however, the Japanese seemed to favor asymmetrical compositions, and before long temples were built to suit this preference. Among the most notable is Hōryūji, established in AD 607 by Prince Shōtoku, the figure credited with unifying the Japanese government under one imperial house, partly by encouraging the universal adoption of Buddhism. The present Hōryūji, whose central precinct contains the oldest wooden buildings in the world, dates from AD 670, when it was rebuilt after a fire. Despite the widespread approval with which the pleasingly dynamic design of Hōryūji was met, Japan did not completely abandon the symmetrical principle of continental temple layout.
Yakushiji temple, the subject of this book, was erected in 718 (Figs. 11, 23, 24). It marked a stunning recurrence of the symmetrical composition of the Chinese prototypes, including two 30-meter-high pagodas that flanked and set off the Golden Hall, an arrangement which may reflect an increase in image worship versus reverence for relics. Only the West Pagoda contained relics, so the East Pagoda seems to have been intended primarily as an aesthetic element. Yakushiji was destroyed by fire during the late middle ages, but the East Pagoda survives to this day intact. In large part, it has served as the basis for the complete restoration and reconstruction of Yakushiji currently in progress.
Figure 11 Yakushiji main compound as seen from the southwest in 1987. The reconstructed West Pagoda is in the center, the 1,300-year-old East Pagoda to the right, and the reconstructed Golden Hall to the left.
From these beginnings, Buddhist architecture in Japan proliferated in a complex evolutionary process, often difficult even for specialists to unravel. New sects, new building sites, shifting patronage, and technological development (as well as occasional regression) have all contributed to the diversity of building types and details, of scale and experience. And yet, in terms of religious experience, certain factors seem to have remained fairly constant.
Regardless of the specific design, a Japanese Buddhist temple essentially provides a setting for contemplation and prayer, usually in the presence of religious paintings or sculpture. “Good deeds” in the form of offerings of money, incense, and food are performed according to prescribed rituals, and there is usually an area set aside for rest and refreshment. Passage through a temple is a kind of ritual in itself, a process of crossing through successive gates, penetrating deeper and deeper into the temple sanctuary. Temple buildings are almost always set apart on raised platforms which require the ascent of several steps before reaching the doorway. Doors are generally massive with a large sill which must be deliberately
