choice of building materials, techniques, and designs. Other principles emphasize cultural processes such as the relation between restraint and exuberance and a passion for preserving the past.
Natural Materials and Settings
Traditional Japanese architecture is characterized by a preference for natural materials, in particular wood. Since wood can breathe, it is suitable for the Japanese climate. Wood absorbs humidity in the wet months and releases moisture when the air is dry. With proper care and periodic repairs, traditional post-and-beam structures can last as long as 1,000 years. Other natural building materials are reeds, bark, and clay used for roofing, and stones used for supporting pillars, surfacing building plat-forms, and holding down board roofs, with an emphasis upon straight lines, asymmetry, simplicity of design, and understatement, exemplified by pre-Buddhist Shinto shrines, farmhouses, teahouses, and tasteful contemporary interiors.
There is also a distinct preference for natural settings. After Buddhism was introduced to Japan from the continent, it was not long before the symmetry of Chinese temple compounds gave way to mountain temples with an asymmetrical layout.
The wood carving on the bottom of the door, as well as the metalwork which graces an adjacent pillar, both part of a gate at Higashi Honganji Temple in Kyoto, illustrate the attention to detail that is typical of many traditional buildings.
The Japanese love of wood is illustrated in the Zenshitsu Hall at Gangōji Temple in Nara City.
Restraint and Exuberance
There is, however, another side to Japanese culture that is not as well known—the appreciation of exuberant colors and complexity of form in contrast to the restrained tradition with its simplicity and asymmetry. This is exemplified by Chinese style shrines and temples and the mausoleums at Nikkō. Such buildings are characterized by a strong contrast between vermilion posts and white plastered walls, elaborate decorations, curved lines, symmetry, and the imposition of order upon nature. Both the restrained and exuberant traditions are favored at different times and places, depending upon the occasion. For example, ceremonial buildings are designed to impress and thus tend to be more exuberant than residential architecture, where the goal is to provide a tasteful and relaxed atmosphere for the occupants.
Attention to Detail
Regardless of whether circumstances call for restraint or exuberance, Japanese architects, builders, artists, and crafts-people pay a great deal of attention to detail. Even when the overall effect of a building is simple, particularly when it is viewed from a distance, a close-up inspection of the building often reveals numerous details that add interest. Attention to detail applies to both technological and design features. For example, at the technological level, the intricate joinery of a traditional building allowed it to be assembled without nails and to be disassembled periodically for repairs. At the design level, the interlocking eave supports of a Buddhist temple can be quite complicated. The basic pattern of the brackets, however, is repeated over and over again to create a visual rhythm that is well integrated and unified.
The entrance to the 100-year-old Nakamura house in Wajima City, which faces the Japan Sea at the northern end of the Noto Peninsula, has been waterproofed and protected from decay by 20–30 coats of lacquer ( urushi ), a long tradition in an area known for its lacquer guilds and refined lacquerware.
Indigenous and Foreign Influences
Japanese society has been inundated at various times by cultural influences from abroad. In early times, these influences came primarily from Korea and China; more recently, mostly from Europe and the United States. In both cases, the Japanese welcomed foreign influences and attempted to copy what were perceived to be superior cultures. A reaction eventually set in, with the result that foreign influences were assimilated and made part of the Japanese tradition. Rather than being overwhelmed by foreign cultures, the Japanese repeatedly have demonstrated a talent for creatively blending different influences into new styles that express basic Japanese values and aesthetic preferences.
Preserving the Past
Considerable effort is expended upon preserving old buildings. This requires dealing with the advantages and disadvantages of wood, the most popular building material in traditional Japan. Wood is easy to work with, it can be fashioned into a variety of shapes, and it can be used to create structures that are earthquake resistant. The main disadvantage of wood is that it rots and burns. The Japanese have dealt with this disadvantage in a number of ways.
Regular renewal involves the custom, associated with early Shinto shrines, of periodically making a more or less exact copy of a building, after which the original is torn down. The most famous example of regular renewal is Ise Jingū, the most important of the early imperial shrines. Regular renewal made it unnecessary to be overly concerned about decay since even posts planted directly in the ground, a method used in early shrines, usually survive until a building is dismantled and a new one built.
A common practice in traditional Japan was to recycle materials, such as using lumber and tiles from buildings that have collapsed, been partially destroyed by fire or war, or intentionally torn down, in the construction or repair of other buildings. For example, tile was invented in China about 4,000 years ago, but old tiles apparently were not reused. In Japan, however, tiles frequently were salvaged from dismantled buildings and used in the construction of new buildings, often in connection with the frequent moves of the early capitals.
Preservation is the practice of taking steps to save architectural members that are decaying, and reinforcing structures that are in danger of collapse. For example, the five-story pagoda at Honmonji Temple in Tokyo was built in 1608. After 400 years, the pagoda had developed a number of serious problems. Eaves brackets were being crushed from the weight of the roof and the bottom portion of many of the posts on the first level were rotten. Normally all of these parts would be replaced. Because of the fear that the building would lose its cultural value if this were done, however, the damaged parts were injected with carbon fiber. In this way, 70 percent of the damaged parts were preserved.
EXAMPLES OF REMODELING
The Lecture Hall at Tōshōdaiji Temple in Nara underwent a move and was successively remodeled.
A model of the eighth- century Higashi Chōshūden (government workers’ building), at the Heijōkō Palace. The model is located at the Heijō Palace Site Museum in Nara.
A model of Higashi Chōshūden after it was moved to Tōshōdaiji Temple in the eighth century and remodeled as the Lecture Hall. The model is located at the Heijō Palace Site Museum in Nara.
The Lecture Hall as it appears today.
Pagodas are the East Asian version of the Indian stupa,
