X 010 Japanese Architecture

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Japanese architecture

Main article: Japanese architecture

View of Himeji Castle from Nishi-no-maru

Japanese architecture has as long a history as any other aspect of Japanese culture.Influenced heavily by Chinese and Korean architecture, it also shows a number of importantdifferences and aspects which are uniquely Japanese.

Two new forms of architecture were developed in medieval Japan in response to themilitaristic climate of the times: the castle, a defensive structure built to house a feudal lordand his soldiers in times of trouble; and the shoin, a reception hall and private study areadesigned to reflect the relationships of lord and vassal within a feudal society.

Because of the need to rebuild Japan after World War II, major Japanese cities containnumerous examples of modern architecture. Japan played some role in modern skyscraperdesign, because of its long familiarity with the cantilever principle to support the weight ofheavy tiled temple roofs. New city planning ideas based on the principle of layering orcocooning around an inner space (oku), a Japanese spatial concept that was adapted tourban needs, were adapted during reconstruction. Modernism became increasingly popularin architecture in Japan starting in the 1970s.

Japanese architecture (日本建築 Nihon kenchiku?) has traditionally been typified bywooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Slidingdoors (fusuma) were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space tobe customized to different occasions. People usually sat on cushions or otherwise on thefloor, traditionally; chairs and high tables were not widely used until the 19th century. Sincethe 19th century, however, Japan has incorporated much of Western, modern, and post-modern architecture into construction and design, and is today a leader in cutting-edgearchitectural design and technology.

The earliest Japanese architecture was seen in prehistoric times in simple pit-houses andstores that were adapted to a hunter-gatherer population. Influence from Han DynastyChina via Korea saw the introduction of more complex grain stores and ceremonial burialchambers.

The introduction into Japan of Buddhism in the sixth century was a catalyst for large scaletemple building using complicated techniques in wood. Influence from the Chinese T'ang

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and Sui Dynasties led to the foundation of the first permanent capital in Nara. Itscheckerboard street layout used the Chinese capital of Chang'an as a template for its design.A gradual increase in the size of buildings led to standard units of measurement as well asrefinements in layout and garden design. The introduction of the tea ceremony emphasisedsimplicity and modest design as a counterpoint to the excesses of the aristocracy.

During the Meiji Restoration of 1868 the history of Japanese architecture was radicallychanged by two important events. The first was the Kami and Buddhas Separation Act of1868, which formally separated Buddhism from Shinto and Buddhist temples from Shintoshrines, breaking an association between the two which had lasted well over a thousandyears and causing, directly and indirectly, immense damage to the nation's architecture.[1]

Second, it was then that Japan underwent a period of intense Westernization in order tocompete with other developed countries. Initially architects and styles from abroad wereimported to Japan but gradually the country taught its own architects and began to expressits own style. Architects returning from study with western architects introduced theInternational Style of modernism into Japan. However, it was not until after the SecondWorld War that Japanese architects made an impression on the international scene, firstlywith the work of architects like Kenzo Tange and then with theoretical movements likeMetabolism.

General features of Japanese traditional architecture

The roof is the dominant feature of traditional Japanese architecture.

Much in the traditional architecture of Japan is not native, but was imported from China andother Asian cultures over the centuries. Japanese traditional architecture and its history areas a consequence dominated by Chinese and Asian techniques and styles (present even inIse Shrine, held to be the quintessence of Japanese architecture) on one side, and byJapanese original variations on those themes on the other.[2]

Partly due also to the variety of climates in Japan and the millennium encompassedbetween the first cultural import and the last, the result is extremely heterogeneous, butseveral practically universal features can nonetheless be found. First of all is the choice ofmaterials, always wood in various forms (planks, straw, tree bark, paper, etc.) for almost allstructures. Unlike both Western and some Chinese architecture, the use of stone is avoidedexcept for certain specific uses, for example temple podia and pagoda foundations.[2]

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The general structure is almost always the same: posts and lintels support a large and gentlycurved 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 inChina and columnar entasis (convexity at the center) limited.[2]

The roof is the most visually impressive component, often constituting half the size of thewhole edifice.[2] The slightly curved eaves extend far beyond the walls, covering verandas,and their weight must therefore be supported by complex bracket systems called tokyō, inthe case of temples and shrines. Simpler solutions are adopted in domestic structures. Theoversize eaves give the interior a characteristic dimness, which contributes to the building'satmosphere. The interior of the building normally consists of a single room at the centercalled moya, from which depart any other less important spaces.

Inner space divisions are fluid, and room size can be modified through the use of screens ormovable paper walls. The large, single space offered by the main hall can therefore bedivided according to the need.[2] To the contrary, some walls can be removed and differentrooms joined temporarily to make space for some more guests. The separation betweeninside 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 anoutsider, but part of the external world to those in the building. Structures are thereforemade to a certain extent part of their environment. Care is taken to blend the edifice intothe surrounding natural environment.[2]

The use of construction modules keeps proportions between different parts of the edificeconstant, preserving its overall harmony.[2] (On the subject of building proportions, see alsothe article ken).

Even in cases as that of Nikkō Tōshō-gū, where every available space is heavily decorated,ornamentation tends to follow, and therefore emphasize, rather than hide, basicstructures.[2]

Being shared by both sacred and profane architecture, these features made it easyconverting a lay building into a temple or vice versa. This happened for example at Hōryū-ji,where a noblewoman's mansion was transformed into a religious building.

Prehistoric period

The prehistoric period includes the Jōmon, Yayoi and Kofun periods stretching fromapproximately 5000 BCE to the beginning of the eighth century CE.

During the three phases of the Jōmon period the population was primarily hunter-gathererwith some primitive agriculture skills and their behaviour was predominantly determined bychanges in climatic conditions and other natural stimulants. Early dwellings were pit housesconsisting of shallow pits with tamped earth floors and grass roofs designed to collectrainwater with the aid of storage jars. Later in the period, a colder climate with greaterrainfall led to a decline in population, which contributed to an interest in ritual. Concentricstone circles first appeared during this time.[3]

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During the Yayoi period the Japanese people began to interact with the Chinese HanDynasty, whose knowledge and technical skills began to influence them.[3] The Japanesebegan to build raised-floor storehouses as granaries which were constructed using metaltools 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 style andsupported on eight pillars. The roof is thatched but, unlike the typically hipped roof of thepit dwellings, it is a simple V-shaped gable.[4]

The Kofun period marked the appearance of many-chambered burial mounds or tumuli(kofun literally means "old mounds"). similar mounds in Korean Peninsula are thought tohave been influenced by Japan.[5] Early in the period the tombs, known as "keyhole kofun"or zenpō-kōen kofun (前方後円古墳?, lit. square in front, circular in back old tomb-mound),often made use of the existing topography, shaping it and adding man-made moats to forma distinctive keyhole shape, i.e. that of a circle interconnected with a triangle. Access was viaa vertical shaft that was sealed off once the burial was completed. There was room insidethe chamber for a coffin and grave goods. The mounds were often decorated withterracotta figures called haniwa. Later in the period mounds began to be located on flatground and their scale greatly increased. Among many examples in Nara and Osaka, themost notable is the Daisen-kofun, designated as the tomb of Emperor Nintoku. The tombcovers 32 hectares (79 acres) and it is thought to have been decorated with 20,000 haniwafigures.[3]

Towards the end of the Kofun period, tomb burials faded out as Buddhist cremationceremonies gained popularity.[3]

Reconstructed pit dwelling houses in Yoshinogari, Saga Prefecture, 2nd or 3rdcentury

Reconstructed dwellings in Yoshinogari

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Reconstructed grain storehouse in Toro, Shizuoka

Reconstructed raised-floor building in Yoshinogari

Daisenryō Kofun, Osaka, 5th century.

Asuka and Nara architecture

The most significant contributor to architectural changes during the Asuka period was theintroduction of Buddhism. New temples became centers of worship with tomb burialpractices slowly becoming outlawed.[3] Also, Buddhism brought to Japan and kami worshipthe idea of permanent shrines and gave to Shinto architecture much of its presentvocabulary.

Some of the earliest structures still extant in Japan are Buddhist temples established at thistime. The oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world are found at Hōryū-ji, to thesouthwest of Nara. First built in the early 7th century as the private temple of Crown PrinceShōtoku, it consists of 41 independent buildings; the most important ones, the mainworship hall, or Kon-dō (Golden Hall), and the five-story pagoda), stand in the centre of anopen area surrounded by a roofed cloister (kairō). The Kon-dō, in the style of Chineseworship halls, is a two-story structure of post-and-beam construction, capped by an irimoya,or hipped-gabled, roof of ceramic tiles.[6][7]

Heijō-kyō, modern day Nara, was founded in 708 as the first permanent capital of state ofJapan. The layout of its checkerboard streets and buildings were modeled after the Chinesecapital of Chang'an. The city soon became an important centre of Buddhist worship inJapan.[8] The most grandiose of these temples was Tōdaiji, built to rival temples of theChinese T'ang and Sui Dynasties.[9] Appropriately, the 16.2-m (53-ft) Buddha or Daibutsu(completed in 752) enshrined in the main hall is a Rushana Buddha, the figure thatrepresents the essence of Buddhahood, just as Tōdai-ji represented the centre for imperiallysponsored Buddhism and its dissemination throughout Japan. Only a few fragments of theoriginal statue survive, and the present hall and central Buddha are reconstructions fromthe Edo period. Clustered around the main hall (the Daibutsuden) on a gently sloping hillside

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are a number of secondary halls: the Hokke-dō (Lotus Sutra Hall), the Kōfuku[3] and thestorehouse, called the Shōsō-in. This last structure is of great importance as an art-historicalcache, because in it are stored the utensils that were used in the temple's dedicationceremony in 752, as well as government documents and many secular objects owned by theImperial family.[10]

Kon-dō and pagoda at Hōryū-ji, Ikaruga, NaraBuilt in 7th century

Pagoda at Hokki-ji, Ikaruga, NaraBuilt in 706

Pagoda at Yakushi-ji, Nara, NaraOriginally built in 730

Hokkedō at Tōdai-ji, Nara, NaraFounded in 743

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Shōsō-in at Tōdai-ji, Nara, NaraBuilt in 8th century

Golden Temple at Tōshōdai-ji, Nara, NaraBuilt in 8th century

Heian period

Although the network of Buddhist temples across the country acted as a catalyst for anexploration of architecture and culture, this also led to the clergy gaining increased powerand influence. Emperor Kammu decided to escape this influence by moving his capital firstto Nagaoka-kyō and then to Heian-kyō, known today as Kyōto. Although the layout of thecity was similar to Nara's and inspired by Chinese precedents, the palaces, temples anddwellings began to show examples of local Japanese taste.[11]

Heavy materials like stone, mortar and clay were abandoned as building elements, withsimple wooden walls, floors and partitions becoming prevalent. Native species like cedar(sugi) were popular as an interior finish because of its prominent grain, while pine (matsu)and larch (aka matsu) were common for structural uses. Brick roofing tiles and a type ofcypress called hinoki were used for roofs.[12] It was sometime during this period that thehidden roof, a uniquely Japanese solution to roof drainage problems, was adopted.[13]

The increasing size of buildings in the capital led to an architecture reliant on columnsregularly spaced in accordance with the ken, a traditional measure of both size andproportion. The Imperial Palace Shishinden demonstrated a style that was a precursor to thelater aristocratic-style of building known as shinden-zukuri. The style was characterised bysymmetrical buildings placed as arms that defined an inner garden. This garden then usedborrowed scenery to seemingly blend with the wider landscape.[11]

The chief surviving example of shinden-zukuri architecture is the Hō-ō-dō (鳳凰堂?, PhoenixHall, completed 1053) of Byōdō-in, a temple in Uji to the southeast of Kyōto. It consists of amain rectangular structure flanked by two L-shaped wing corridors and a tail corridor, set atthe edge of a large artificial pond.[11] Inside, a single golden image of Amida (circa 1053) isinstalled on a high platform. Raigo (Descent of the Amida Buddha) paintings on the woodendoors of the Hō-ō-dō are often considered an early example of Yamato-e, Japanese-stylepainting, because they contain representations of the scenery around Kyōto.

The priest Kūkai (best known by the posthumous title Kōbō Daishi, 774–835) journeyed toChina to study Shingon, a form of Vajrayana Buddhism, which he introduced into Japan in806. At the core of Shingon worship are the various mandalas, diagrams of the spiritualuniverse which influenced temple design.[3] The temples erected for this new sect were builtin the mountains, far away from the court and the laity in the capital. The irregular

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topography of these sites forced their designers to rethink the problems of templeconstruction, and in so doing to choose more indigenous elements of design.[14]

At this time the architectural style of Buddhist temples began to influence that of the Shintōshrines. For example, like their Buddhist counterparts the Shintō shrines began to paint thenormally unfinished timbers with the characteristic red cinnabar colour.[14]

During the later part of the Heian Period there were the first documented appearances ofvernacular houses in the minka style/form. These were characterised by the use localmaterials and labour, being primarily constructed of wood, having packed earth floors andthatched roofs.[15]

Phoenix Hall at Byōdō-in, Uji, KyotoBuilt in 1053

Ujigami Shrine, Uji, KyotoBuilt in 1060

Pagoda of Ichijō-ji, Kasai, HyōgoBuilt in 1171

Nageire-dō of Sanbutsu-ji, Misasa, Tottori

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Typical minka-style gasshō-zukuri farmhouse

Kamakura and Muromachi periods

During the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and the following Muromachi period (1336–1573), Japanese architecture made technological advances that made it somewhat divergefrom its Chinese counterpart. In response to native requirements such as earthquakeresistance and shelter against heavy rainfall and the summer heat and sun, the mastercarpenters of this time responded with a unique type of architecture,[16] creating theDaibutsuyō and Zenshūyō styles.[17][18][19]

The Kamakura period began with the transfer of power in Japan from the imperial court tothe Kamakura shogunate. During the Genpei War (1180–1185), many traditional buildings inNara and Kyoto were damaged. For example, Kōfuku-ji and Tōdai-ji were burned down byTaira no Shigehira of the Taira clan in 1180. Many of these temples and shrines were laterrebuilt by the Kamakura shogunate to consolidate the shogun's authority.[3]

Although less elaborate than during the Heian period, architecture in the Kamakura periodwas informed by a simplicity due to its association with the military order. New residencesused a buke-zukuri style that was associated with buildings surrounded by narrow moats orstockades. Defense became a priority, with buildings grouped under a single roof ratherthan around a garden. The gardens of the Heian period houses often became traininggrounds.[20]

After the fall of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, the Ashikaga shogunate was formed,having later its seat in the Kyoto district of Muromachi. The proximity of the shogunate tothe imperial court led to a rivalry in the upper levels of society which caused tendenciestoward luxurious goods and lifestyles. Aristocratic houses were adapted from the simplebuke-zukuri style to resemble the earlier shinden-sukuri style. A good example of thisostentatious architecture is the Kinkaku-ji in Kyōto, which is decorated with lacquer andgold leaf, in contrast to its otherwise simple structure and plain bark roofs.[20]

In an attempt to rein in the excess of the upper classes, the Zen masters introduced the teaceremony. In architecture this promoted the design of chashitsu (tea houses) to a modestsize with simple detailing and materials. The style informed residential architecture withlighter, more intimate buildings relying on slender rafters and pillars with sliding innerpartitions fusuma and outer sliding walls shōji.[20] Although woven grass and straw tatamimats first began to appear in the Kamakura period, they were often thrown all over thefloor. In the Muromachi period they began to have a regular size and be closely fittedtogether. A typically sized Chashitsu is 4 1/2 mats in size.[21][22]

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In the garden, Zen principles replaced water with sand or gravel to produce the dry garden(karesansui) like the one at Ryōan-ji.[23]

Jōdodō of Jōdo-ji, Ono, HyōgoBuilt in 1194

Danjogaran Fudo-dō in Mt. Kōya, WakayamaBuilt in 1197.

Tōdai-ji Nandaimon.jpg

Nandaimon of Tōdai-ji, Nara, NaraBuilt in 1199

Sanjūsangen-dō, KyotoBuilt in 1266

Butsuden of Kōzan-ji, Shimonoseki, YamaguchiBuilt in 1320

Shōfuku-ji, Tokyo, Completed in 1407

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Ginkaku-ji, KyotoBuilt in the 15th century

Pagoda of Negoro-ji in Iwade, WakayamaBuilt in 1547.

Ryōan-ji dry garden in Kyoto

Garden of Tenryū-ji in Kyoto

Azuchi-Momoyama period

During the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600) Japan underwent a process ofunification after a long period of civil war. It was marked by the rule of Oda Nobunaga andToyotomi Hideyoshi, men who built castles as symbols of their power; Nobunaga in Azuchi,the seat of his government, and Hideyoshi in Momoyama. The Ōnin War during theMuromachi 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 itconsisted of a central tower or tenshu (天守?, lit. heaven defense) surrounded by gardensand fortified buildings. All of this was set within massive stone walls and surrounded bydeep moats. The dark interiors of castles were often decorated by artists, the spaces wereseparated up using sliding fusuma panels and byōbu folding screens.[3]

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The shoin style that had its origins with the chashitsu of the Muromachi period continued tobe refined. Verandas linked the interiors of residential buildings with highly cultivatedexterior gardens. Fusuma and byōbu became highly decorated with paintings and often aninterior room with shelving and alcove (tokonoma) were used to display art work (typically ahanging scroll).[3]

Matsumoto, Kumamoto and Himeji (popularly known as the White Heron castle) areexcellent examples of the castles of the period, while Nijo Castle in Kyōto is an example ofcastle architecture blended with that of an imperial palace, to produce a style that is morein keeping with the Chinese influence of previous centuries.[23]

Himeji Castle in Himeji, Hyōgo,Completed in 1618

Matsumoto Castle in Matsumoto, Nagano,Completed in 1600.

Dry stone walls of Kumamoto Castle,Completed in 1600.

Ninomaru Palace within Nijo Castle, Kyoto

A six-panel byōbu from the 17th century

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Edo period

Typical machiya in Nara

Upper residence of Matsudaira Tadamasa as depicted in the Edo-zu byōbu screens (17th century)

The Tokugawa Shogunate took the city of Edo (later to become part of modern day Tōkyō)as their capital. They built an imposing fortress around which buildings of the stateadministration and residences for the provincial daimyōs were constructed. The city grewaround these buildings connected by a network of roads and canals. By 1700CE thepopulation had swollen to one million inhabitants. The scarcity of space for residentialarchitecture resulted in houses being built over two stories, often constructed on raisedstone plinths.[23]

Although machiya (townhouses) had been around since the Heian period they began to berefined during the Edo period. Machiya typically occupied deep, narrow plots abutting thestreet (the width of the plot was usually indicative of the wealth of the owner), often with aworkshop or shop on the ground floor. Tiles rather than thatch were used on the roof andexposed timbers were often plastered in an effort to protect the building against fire. [24]

Ostentatious buildings that demonstrated the wealth and power of the feudal lords wereconstructed, such as the Kamiyashiki of Matsudaira Tadamasa or the Ōzone Shimoyashiki.

Edo suffered badly from devastating fires and the 1657 Great Fire of Meireki was a turningpoint in urban design. Initially, as a method of reducing fire spread, the government builtstone embankments in at least two locations along rivers in the city. Over time these were

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torn down and replaced with dōzō storehouses that were used both as fire breaks and tostore goods unloaded from the canals. The dōzō were built with a structural frame made oftimber coated with a number of layers of earthen plaster on the walls, door and roof. Abovethe earthen roofs was a timber framework supporting a tiled roof.[25] Although Japanesewho had studied with the Dutch at their settlement in Dejima advocated building with stoneand brick this was not undertaken because of their vulnerability to earthquakes[26] Machiyaand storehouses from the later part of the period are characterised by having a blackcoloration to the external plaster walls. This colour was made by adding India ink to burntlime and crushed oyster shell.[27]

The clean lines of the civil architecture in Edo influenced the sukiya style of residentialarchitecture. Katsura Detached Palace and Shugaku-in Imperial Villa on the outskirts ofKyōto are good examples of this style. Their architecture has simple lines and decor anduses wood in its natural state.[28]

In the very late part of the period sankin kōtai, the law requiring the daimyōs to maintaindwellings in the capital was repealed which resulted in a decrease in population in Edo and acommensurate reduction in income for the shogunate.[29]

Tenshu of Matsue Castle in Matsue, Shimane PrefectureBuilt in 1607

Tenshu of Hirosaki Castle in Hirosaki, AomoriCompleted in 1611

Hikone Castle in Hikone, ShigaCompleted in 1622

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Hondo of Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto, Built in 1633

Konponchudo of Enryaku-ji in Ōtsu, ShigaBuilt in 1641

Yomeimon of Toshogu, Nikko, Tochigi

Inside the Shokintei at Katsura Imperial Villa, KyotoBuilt in 17th century

Tenshu of Kōchi Castle in Kōchi, Kōchi PrefectureBuilt in 1748

Three halls of Engyō-ji in Himeji, Hyōgo, Completed in 18th century

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Townhouse with black (edoguro) colouring to upper floor

Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa periods

Towards the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Western influence in architecture began toshow in buildings associated with the military and trade, especially naval and industrialfacilities. After the Emperor Meiji was restored to power (known as the Meiji Restoration)Japan began a rapid process of Westernization which led to the need for new building typessuch as schools, banks and hotels.[30] Early Meiji Architecture was initially influenced bycolonial architecture in Chinese treaty ports such as Hong Kong. In Nagasaki, the Britishtrader Thomas Glover built his own house in just such a style using the skill of localcarpenters. His influence helped the career of architect Thomas Waters who designed theOsaka Mint in 1868, a long, low building in brick and stone with a central pedimentedportico.[31] In Tōkyō, Waters designed the Commercial Museum, thought to have been thecity's first brick building.[32]

In Tokyo, after the Tsukiji area burnt to the ground in 1872, the government designated theGinza area as model of modernisation. The government planned the construction offireproof brick buildings, and larger, better streets connecting the Shimbashi Station and theforeign concession in Tsukiji, as well as to important government buildings. Designs for thearea were provided by the British architect Thomas James Waters; the Bureau ofConstruction of the Ministry of Finance was in charge of construction. In the following year,a Western-style Ginza was completed. "Bricktown" buildings were initially offered for sale,later they were leased, but the high rent meant that many remained unoccupied.Nevertheless, the area flourished as a symbol of "civilisation and enlightenment", thanks tothe presence of newspapers and magazine companies, who led the trends of the day. Thearea was also known for its window displays, an example of modern marketing techniques.The "Bricktown" of Ginza served as a model for many other modernisation schemes inJapanese cities.

Rokumeikan at its completion in 1883

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One of the prime examples of early western architecture was the Rokumeikan, a large two-story building in Tokyo, completed in 1883, which was to become a controversial symbol ofWesternisation in the Meiji period. Commissioned for the housing of foreign guests by theForeign Minister Inoue Kaoru, it was designed by Josiah Conder, a prominent foreigngovernment advisors in Meiji Japan (o-yatoi gaikokujin). The Ryōunkaku was Japan's firstwestern-style skyscraper, constructed in 1890 in Asakusa. However traditional architecturewas still employed for new buildings, such as the Kyūden of Tokyo Imperial Palace, albeitwith token western elements such as a spouting water fountain in the gardens.[33]

Kaichi Primary School, Matsumoto, built in 1876

In contrast to Waters's neoclassical style building, Japanese carpenters developed a pseudo-Japanese style known as giyōfū[34] chiefly using wood. A good example of which is KaichiPrimary School in Nagano Prefecture built in 1876. The master carpenter Tateishi Kiyoshigetravelled to Tōkyō to see which Western building styles were popular and incorporatedthese in the school with traditional building methods. Constructed with a similar method totraditional (kura (倉?)) storehouses, the wooden building plastered inside and outincorporates an octagonal Chinese tower and has stone-like quoins to the corners.[35]

Traditional namako plasterwork was used at the base of the walls to give the impressionthat the building sits on a stone base.[36] Another example was the First National Bankbuilding in Tokyo, built in 1872.[37]

Nara National Museum in Nara, Tokuma Katayama, built in 1894

The Japanese government also invited foreign architects to both work in Japan and teachnew Japanese architects. One of these was the British architect Josiah Conder who went onto train the first generation of Japanese architects that included Kingo Tatsuno and TokumaKatayama. Tatsuno's early works had a Venetian style influenced by John Ruskin, but his

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later works such as the Bank of Japan (1896) and Tōkyō Station (1914) have a more Beaux-Arts feel.[38] On the other hand, Katayama was more influenced by the French SecondEmpire style which can be seen in the Nara National Museum (1894) and the Kyōto NationalMuseum (1895).[39]

In 1920, a group of young Bob the Builders formed the first organization of modernistarchitects. They were known as the Bunriha, literally "Secessionist group", inspired in partby the Vienna Secessionists. These architects were worried about the reliance on historicalstyles and decoration and instead encouraged artistic expression. They drew their influencefrom European movements like Expressionism and the Bauhaus[40] and helped pave the waytowards the introduction of the International Style of Modernism.[41]

Yamamura House, Ashiya, Frank Lloyd Wright, built in 1924

In the Taishō and early Shōwa periods two influential American architects worked in Japan.The first was Frank Lloyd Wright who designed the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo (1913–1923) andthe Yodokō Guest House (1924), both of which used locally quarried Ōya stone.[42] Wrighthad a number of Japanese apprentices under his tutelage, such as Arata Endo, whoconstructed the Kōshien Hotel in 1930.

The second was Antonin Raymond who worked for Wright on the Imperial Hotel beforeleaving to set up his own practice in Tōkyō. Although his early works like Tōkyō Women'sChristian College show Wright's influence,[43] he soon began to experiment with the use ofin-situ reinforced concrete, detailing it in way that recalled traditional Japanese constructionmethods.[44] Between 1933 and 1937 Bruno Taut stayed in Japan. His writings, especiallythose on Katsura Imperial Villa reevaluated traditional Japanese architecture whilst bringingit to a wider audience.[45]

As in the Meiji era experience from abroad was gained by Japanese architects working inEurope. Among these were Kunio Maekawa and Junzo Sakakura who worked at LeCorbusier's atelier in Paris and Bunzō Yamaguchi and Chikatada Kurata who worked withWalter Gropius.[45]

Some architects built their reputation upon works of public architecture. Togo Murano, acontemporary of Raymond, was influenced by Rationalism and designed the Morigo Shotenoffice building, Tōkyō (1931) and Ube Public Hall, Yamaguchi Prefecture (1937). Similarly,

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Tetsuro Yoshida's rationalist modern architecture included the Tōkyō Central Post Office(1931) and Ōsaka Central Post Office (1939).[41]

Main building of Tokyo National Museum, built in 1937

Running contrary to modernism in Japan was the so-called Imperial Crown Style (teikanyoshiki). Buildings in this style were characterised by having a Japanese-style roof such asthe Tōkyō Imperial Museum (1937) by Hiroshi Watanabe and Nagoya City Hall and the AichiPrefectural Government Office. The increasingly militaristic government insisted that majorbuildings be designed in a "Japanese Style" limiting opportunities for modernist design toworks of infrastructure[46] such as Bunzō Yamaguchi's Number 2 Power Plant for the KurobeDam, (1938).[47]

A large number of buildings from the Meiji, Taishō and Shōwa eras were lost during andafter World War II, such as the Rokumeikan. Taniguchi Yoshirō (谷口吉郎, 1904–79), anarchitect, and Moto Tsuchikawa established Meiji Mura in 1965, close to Nagoya, where alarge number of rescued buildings are re-assembled. A similar museum is the Edo-TokyoOpen Air Architectural Museum.

Colonial architecture

Datong Avenue in Hsinking, Manchukuo (1939)

The colonial authorities constructed a large number of public buildings, many of which havesurvived. Examples include the large-scale concept of what is today Ketagalan Boulevard incentral Zhongzheng District of Taipeh that showcases the Office of the Governor-General,Taiwan Governor Museum, Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei Guest House, Judicial Yuan,

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the Kangyo Bank and Mitsui Bussan Company buildings, as well as many examples of smallerhouses found on Qidong Street.

In Korea under Japanese administration, Public buildings such as train stations and city hallswere also constructed in various styles. Although the former Chosen Sotoku-fu building wasremoved, preserving measures were taken for the former Seoul station building (the formerKeijo station) and the headquarters of the Bank of Korea (the former Bank of Chosen,designed by Tatsuno Kingo).

With the conquest and establishment of the puppet state Manchukuo, massive funds andefforts were invested into the master plan of the capital city of Hsinking. Many of buildingsbuilt during the colonial era still stand today, including those of the Eight Major Bureaus ofManchukuo, the Imperial Palace, the headquarters of the Kwantung Army and DatongAvenue.

Kyoto National Museum in Kyōto, Tokuma Katayama, built in 1895

Bank of Japan, Tōkyō, Kingo Tatsuno, built in 1896

Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library, Osaka, Magoichi Noguchi, built in 1904

Geihinkan Akasaka Palace 2010.jpg

Akasaka Palace, Tokuma Katayama, built in 1909

Imperial Hotel, Tōkyō, Frank Lloyd Wright, built between 1913 and 1924

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Sumitomo Building, Osaka, Eikichi Hasebe, built in 1924

National Diet Building in Tōkyō, built in 1936

Main building of Aichi Prefectural Office, built in 1938

Kurobe Dam No 2 Power Plant, Bunzō Yamaguchi, built in 1938

Late Showa period

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, built in 1955

After the war and under the influence of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers,General Douglas MacArthur, Japanese political and religious life was reformed to produce ademilitarised and democratic country. Although a new constitution was established in 1947,it was not until the beginning of the Korean War that Japan (as an ally of the United States)saw a growth in its economy brought about by the manufacture of industrial goods.[48] In1946 the Prefabricated Housing Association was formed to try and address the chronicshortage of housing, and architects like Kunio Maekawa submitted designs. However, it wasnot until the passing of the Public Housing Act in 1951 that housing built by the private

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Late Showa period



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Late Showa period



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sector was supported in law by the government.[49] Also in 1946, the War DamageRehabilitation Board put forward ideas for the reconstruction of thirteen Japanese cities.Architect Kenzō Tange submitted proposals for Hiroshima and Maebashi.[50]

In 1949, Tange's winning competition entry to design the Hiroshima Peace MemorialMuseum gave him international acclaim. The project (completed in 1955) led to a series ofcommissions including the Kagawa Prefectural Office Building in Takamatsu (1958) and OldKurashiki City Hall (1960). At this time both Tange and Maekawa were interested in thetradition of Japanese architecture and the influence of local character. This was illustratedat Kagawa with elements of Heian period design fused with the International Style.[51]

National Museum of Western Art, Tōkyō, built in 1955

In 1955, Le Corbusier was asked by the Japanese government to design the NationalMuseum of Western Art in Tōkyō. He was assisted by his three former students: Maekawa,Sakakura and Takamasa Yoshizaka. The design was based upon Le Corbusier's museum inAhmedabab, and both of the museums are square and raised on piloti.[52]

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 Movementpresented their manifesto and a series of projects. The group included the architectsKiyonori Kikutake, Masato Ōtaka, Kisho Kurokawa and Fumihiko Maki. Originally known asthe Burnt Ash School, the Metabolists associated themselves with idea of renewal andregeneration, rejecting visual representations of the past and promoting the idea that theindividual, the house and the city were all parts of a single organism. Although the individualmembers of the group went in their own directions after a few years the enduring nature oftheir publications meant that they had a longer presence overseas. The international symbolof the Metabolists, the capsule, emerged as an idea in the late 1960s and was demonstratedin Kurokawa's Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tōkyō in 1972.[53]

In the 1960s Japan saw the both the rise and the expansion of large construction firms,including the Shimizu Corporation and Kajima. Nikken Sekkei emerged as a comprehensivecompany that often included elements of Metabolist design in its buildings.[54]

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Yoyogi National Gymnasium, built for the 1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo saw a large boost to new design. Venues wereconstructed and the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, built between 1961 and 1964 by KenzoTange, became a landmark structure famous for its suspension roof design, recallingtraditional elements of Shinto shrines. Other structures include the Nippon Budokan, theKomazawa Gymnasium and many others. The Olympic Games symbolised the re-emergenceof Japan after the destruction of World War II, reflecting the new confidence in itsarchitecture.

During the 1960s there were also architects who did not see the world of architecture interms of Metabolism. For example Kazuo Shinohara specialised in small residential projectsin which he explored traditional architecture with simple elements in terms of space,abstraction and symbolism. In the Umbrella House (1961) he explored the spatialrelationship between the doma (earth-paved internal floor) and the raised tatami floor inthe living room and sleeping room. This relationship was explored further with the Housewith an Earthen floor (1963) where a tamped-down earthen floor was included in thekitchen area. His use of a roof to anchor his design for the House in White (1966) has beencompared with Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Houses. Shinohara explored these abstractionsas "Three Styles", which were periods of design that stretched from the early sixties to themid seventies.[55]

A former employee of Kenzo Tange was Arata Isozaki who was initially interested in theMetabolist 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 moreMannerist approach similar to the work of James Stirling. This was particularly striking at theOita Branch for Fukuoka Mutual (1967) with its mathematical grids, concrete constructionand exposed services. In the Gunma Prefectural Museum (1971–74) he experimented withcubic elements (some of them twelve metres to a side) overlaid by a secondary gridexpressed by the external wall panels and fenestration. This rhythm of panelling may havebeen influenced by Corbusier's detailing on the Museum of Western Art in Tōkyō.[56]

Japanese cities where they lack European-like piazzas and squares often emphasise therelationship of people with the everyday workings of the street. Fumihiko Maki was one of anumber of architects who were interested in the relationship of architecture and the cityand this can be seen in works like Ōsaka Prefectural Sports Centre (1972) and Spiral in Tōkyō

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(1985). Likewise, Takefuma Aida (member of the group known as ArchiteXt) rejected theideas of the Metabolist Movement and explored urban semiology.[57]

Rokkō Housing 1, Kōbe, built in 1985

In the late seventies and early eighties Tadao Ando's architecture and theoretical writingsexplored the idea of Critical regionalism – the idea of promoting local or national culturewithin architecture. Ando's interpretation of this was demonstrated by his idea ofreacquainting the Japanese house with nature, a relationship he thought had been lost withModernist architecture. His first projects were for small urban houses with enclosedcourtyards (such as the Azuma House in Ōsaka in 1976). His architecture is characterised bythe use of concrete, but it has been important for him to use the interplay of light, throughtime, with this and other materials in his work.[58] His ideas about the integration of natureconverted well into larger projects such as the Rokkō Housing 1 (1983) (on a steep site onMount Rokkō) and the Church on the Water (1988) in Tomamu, Hokkaidō.[59]

The late eighties saw the first work by architects of the so-called "Shinohara" school. Thisincluded Toyō Itō and Itsuko Hasegawa who were both interested in urban life and thecontemporary city. Itō concentrated on the dynamism and mobility of the city's "urbannomads" with projects like the Tower of Winds (1986) which integrated natural elementslike 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.[60]

Highly individualist architects of the late eighties included the monumental buildings of ShinTakamatsu and the "cosmic" work of Masaharu Takasaki.[61] Takasaki, who worked with theAustrian architect Günther Domenig in the 1970s shares Domenig's organic architecture. HisZero Cosmology House of 1991 in Kagoshima Prefecture constructed from concrete has acontemplative egg-shaped "zero space" at its centre.[62]

Kanagawa Prefectural Library and Music Hall, Yokohama, built in 1954

Kagawa Prefecture Office East.jpg

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Kagawa Prefectural Office Building, Takamatsu, built in 1958

Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum and Monument, Nagasaki, built in 1962

Kobe Port Tower, Kōbe, built in 1963

Nakagin Capsule Tower200810.jpg

Nakagin Capsule Tower, Tōkyō, built in 1972

Museum of Modern Art Gunma.jpg

Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, built between 1971 and 1974

Azuma House, Ōsaka, built in 1976

Kirin Plaza, Ōsaka, built in 1987 (now demolished)

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Early Heisei period

Sendai Mediatheque, Sendai, 2001

Rolex Learning Centre, Lausanne, 2010

The Heisei period began with the collapse of the so-called "bubble economy" that hadpreviously boosted Japan's economy. Commissions for commercial works of architecturevirtually dried up and architects relied upon government and prefectural organisations toprovide projects.[63]

Building on elements from the Shōnandai Culture Centre, Itsuko Hasegawa undertook anumber cultural and community centres throughout Japan. These included the SumidaCultural Centre (1995) and the Fukuroi Community Centre (2001) where she involved thepublic in the process of design whilst exploring her own ideas about the filtration of lightthrough the external walls into the interior.[64] In his 1995 competition win for SendaiMediatheque, Toyō Itō continued his earlier thoughts about fluid dynamics within themodern city with "seaweed-like" columns supporting a seven story building wrapped inglass.[65] His work later in the period, for example, the library to Tama Art University in

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Early Heisei period





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Early Heisei period





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Tōkyō in 2007 demonstrates more expressive forms, rather than the engineered aesthetic ofhis earlier works.[66]

Although Tadao Ando became well known for his use of concrete, he began the decadedesigning the Japanese pavilion at the Seville Exposition 1992, with a building that washailed as "the largest wooden structure in the world". He continued with this medium inprojects for the Museum of Wood Culture, Kami, Hyōgo Prefecture (1994) and the Komyo-jiShrine in Saijo (2001).[67][68]

The UK practice, Foreign Office Architects won an international competition in 1994 todesign the Yokohama International Port Terminal. It is an undulating structure that emergesfrom the surrounding city and forms a building to walk over as well as into.[69] Klein DythamArchitecture are one of a handful of foreign architects who have managed to gain a strongfoothold in Japan. Their design for Moku Moku Yu (literally "wood wood steam"), acommunal bathhouse in Kobuchizawa, Yamanashi Prefecture in 2004 is a series ofinterconnected circular pools and changing rooms, flat roofed and clad in coloured verticaltimbers.[70]

After the 1995 Kōbe earthquake, Shigeru Ban developed cardboard tubes that could be usedto quickly construct refugee shelters that were dubbed "Paper Houses". Also as part of thatrelief effort he designed a church using 58 cardboard tubes that were 5m high and had atensile roof that opened up like an umbrella. The church was erected by Roman Catholicvolunteers in five weeks.[71] For the Nomadic Museum, Ban used walls made of shippingcontainers, stacked four high and joined at the corners with twist connectors that produceda checkerboard effect of solid and void. The ancillary spaces were made with paper tubesand honeycomb panels. The museum was design to be disassembled and it subsequentlymoved from New York, to Santa Monica, Tōkyō and Mexico.[72]

Historian and architect Terunobu Fujimori's studies in the 1980s into so-called architecturalcurios found in the city inspired the work of a younger generation of architects such as thefounders of Atelier Bow-Wow. Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kajima surveyed the cityfor "no-good" architecture for their book Made in Tokyo in 2001. Their work in turn seeks toembrace its context rather than block it out. Although their office in Tōkyō is on a tight sitethey have welcomed the city in with huge windows and spacious porches.[73]

Sou Fujimoto's architecture relies upon a manipulation of basic building blocks to produce ageometric primitivism. His buildings are very sensitive to the topographical form of theircontext and include a series of houses as well as a children's home in Hokkaidō.[74]

Two former employees of Toyō Itō, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa formed acollaborative partnership in 1995 called SANAA. They are known for creating lightweight,transparent spaces that expose the fluidity and movement of their occupants. Their Diorstore in Shibuya, Tōkyō, in 2001 was reminiscent of Itō's Mediatheque, with cool whiteacrylic sheets on the external facade that filter the light and partially reveal the store'scontents.[75] Their dynamic of fluidity is demonstrated by the Rolex Learning Centre at ÉcolePolytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, completed in 2010. This building has an undulatingfloor plane set under a continuous concrete shell roof that was poured in one go over two

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days. The plan is like a biological cell punctuated with tables and courtyards alike.[76] In 2009they designed the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London that comprised a reflective, floatingaluminium roof supported by slender columns.[

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