- amado: In traditional Japanese architecture, a type of storm shutter made of sliding wooden panels which (when not in use) slide into a box-like storage cabinet attached to the exterior of the building at one side of the opening; usually set in place in the evening.
- arakabe: The rough undercoat or first coat of plaster applied to the wall of a traditional Japanese-style building.
- ArchiteXt: AntoMetapolism informal grouping of Japanese architects…
- azekura: An ancient Japanese building, used for storage, made of logs which have been carefully shaped so that they are triangular in section.
- bonsai: Japanese term meaning the art/practice of growing plants in containers to suggest natural scenery in miniature. It originated in China as shanshui penjing.
- byo: In Japanese architecture, a mausoleum, often combined with a shrine.
- chashitsu: A room or small elegantly rustic house equipped for the Japanese tea ceremony; usually has an area equal to 4 1/2 tatami.
- chigai-dana: In the Shoin style of Japanese architecture, shelves which are placed in step-like arrangement in an alcove.
- chigi: Originally, the projecting barge couples, at the ends of the ridge of a roof in a Shinto shrine; now usually a pair of crossed timbers which are placed at each end of the ridge; also called forked finials.
- chudo: A sacred hall (literally, “golden hall”), the sanctuary where the main image of worship is kept in a Buddhist temple. This term was used during ancient times of Japanese history, but the Jodo, Shinshu, and Nichiren sects used the term hondo, the Shingon and Tendai sects used the term chudo, and the Zen sect used the term butsuden. See kondo.
- chumon: In Japanese architecture, the middle gate between the main gate and the sacred area of a Buddhist temple.
- chu-nuri: The second coat of plaster on a wall of a traditional Japanese building; applied before the finish coat. Same as naka-nuri.
- daikoku-bashira: A heavy post placed at the center of a traditional Japanese house or farmhouse; often associated with the god of fortune.
- dairi: Residence of the Japanese Makado.
- dodai: In traditional Japanese architecture, the foundation sill (wooden) of a house.
- dodai-ishi: In traditional Japanese architecture, a foundation stone of a house.
- engawa: A veranda-like area beneath the eaves of a traditional Japanese building, constructed of finely finished boards; may be on one or all four sides of the building; its exterior side may be fitted with sliding doors.
- fusuma: A sliding interior partition used in Japanese domestic or temple architecture; its exterior frame is plain or lacquered wood; its core is composed of a wood lattice framework which is covered with heavy paper or cloth; the surface may be decorated with an all-over pattern or with ink paintings.
- gassho style: Also see gassho-zukuri.
- gassho-zukuri: Also see gassho-zukuri.
- gegyo: In a traditional Japanese structure, a decorative pendant which hangs from the intersection of the bargeboards at the peak of the gable.
- genkan: In a traditional Japanese structure, a vestibule or entrance hall where shoes are removed before entering the building.
- haiden: A hall of worship, usually in front of the honden of a Shinto shrine.
- hari: In traditional Japanese architecture, a beam similar to liang in traditional Chinese architecture.
- harshira: A column, post, or pillar; the basic vertical member of a traditional Japanese wooden structure.
- hashira: A sacred post in Shinto architecture, shaped by human hands.
- hatto: A rectangular, one-story building used as a lecture hall for the instruction of monks in a Japanese Zen temple.
- Heian: Of or pertaining to the period in Japan, A.D. 785-1185, characterized by the modification and naturalization of ideas and institutions that were earlier introduced from China. During this time indigenous feudalism superseded Chinese-based social order and Japanese architecture developed in isolation from China.
- hiragawara: See hongawara-buki.
- hisashi: The eaves area, usually one ken in width which runs parallel to one or more sides of corridors of a traditional Japanese wooden building.
- hiwada-buki: A roof of a Japanese building covered with many layers of thin, precisely cut shingles of cypress bark.
- hogyo-yane: In a traditional Japanese structure, a roof which is pyramidal in shape; usually has four sides which join at the top, but may also have six or eight sides; has no ridgepole.
- hojo: The abbot’s quarters in a Japanese Zen temple.
- honden: In Shinto architecture, the main inner shrine.
- hongawara-buki: In traditional Japanese architecture, clay roofing tile; consists of half-round tiles (marugawara) and broad, slightly curved, flat tile (hiragawara); laid alternately; the eave-end tiles are caped and decorated.
- Irimoya roof: A hipped and gabled roof found on traditional Japanese buildings.
- irimoya-yane: A hipped and gabled roof of a traditional Japanese structure; the upper section is sloped on two sides and the lower section is sloped on all four sides.
- Japanese architecture: One derived mainly from China, but of smaller scale and extreme fineness of decoration. The module of the 3′ X 6′ floor mat governs the planning, with interior partitions largely of sliding paper-cover screens. IT is an architecture mainly of wood, in the joinery and carving of which is show great skill. Its history has been written only since 712 A.D., but extends back at least six or seven centuries before Christ. Japan began to show the influences of Western civilization as recently as 1875.
- Japanese garden-design: Of volcanic origins, the Japanese archipelago was blessed with a wide range of flora. The inhabitants early acquired acute sensitivities to natural sites, creating gardens in which rigid geometries were avoided and stylization of features was evident…
- Japanese influence: Design evoking historic styles of construction from Japan.
- Japanese lacquer: A natural varnish obtained from an Asian sumac, used to produce a highly polished, lustrous surface on wood.
- Japonaiserie: Late-19th c. term, counterpart of Chinoiserie, meaning design influenced by the arts of Japan…
- jikugumi: The construction and assembly of the basic framework of a traditional Japanese building, including joists, pillars, rafters, cross-beams, etc.
- jinja: A Shinto shrine. Also see jinsha.
- jinsha: A Shinto shrine. Also see jinsha.
- jokaku: The stronghold or citadel of an ancient Japanese castle.
- kabe: In traditional Japanese architecture, a wall.
- kaidan: Steps or stairs in Japanese architecture.
- kairo: A covered corridor surrounding the central core of a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine.
- kamidana: A shelf in a Shinto house, the location of a sacred image.
- kamoi: In traditional Japanese architecture, the upper grooved beam which holds a sliding partition or screen (shoji). Also see shikii (lower grooved beam).
- Kasuga-zukuri: A style of Shinto shrine, characterized by a hipped roof extending from the main roof, over a centrally placed entrance stair at one gable end.
- katsuogi: On certain Shinto shrines, short circular billets placed at right angles to the ridge of the roof; may be as many as ten in number.
- kaya-buki: On a Japanese structure, a roof thatched with grass called kaya.
- ken: A linear unit for regulating column spacing in traditional Japanese construction, initially set at 6 feet or 1.8 meters, but later varying according to room width as determined by tatami units.
- keta: A beam of a traditional Japanese structure; similar to lin tzu in traditional Chinese construction.
- kirizuma-yane: A gabled roof of a traditional Japanese structure; has two sloping sides which are connected at the ridge of the roof.
- kokera-buki: In traditional Japanese roof construction, a roof covering composed of wood shingles, used in multiple layers.
- kondo: A sacred hall (literally, “golden hall”), the sanctuary where the main image of worship is kept in a Buddhist temple. This term was used during ancient times of Japanese history, but the Jodo, Shinshu, and Nichiren sects used the term hondo, the Shingon and Tendai sects used the term chudo, and the Zen sect used the term butsuden.
- kumimono: In traditional Japanese construction, a system of structural supports composed of weight-bearing blocks and bracket arms; also called tokyo.
- kura: In a Japanese city, a fireproof building two or more stories high, used as a place of deposit for the valuable possessions of a family…
- kyozo: A small building within the precinct of a Japanese Buddhist temple, used as a repository for sutras, the sacred scriptures of Buddhism.
- mado: In Japanese architecture, a window; similar to ch’uang in Chinese architecture.
- marugawara: See hongawara-buki.
- mat room: A room whose size horizontally, and in each direction, depends upon the number of mats with which its floor is to be covered. Especially in Japan, rooms are so planned…
- Metabolism: Japanese architectural movement founded (1960) by Tange. With members including Kikutake, Kurokawa, and Fumihiko Maki, it was concerned with the nature and expression of private and public spaces, with flexibility, and changeable use. Prefabrication, advanced technology, and industrialization were employed to create small capsules or living-units for private spaces, connected to service-towers and circulation-areas, as in Kurokawa’s Nagakin Capsule Tower, Tokyo (1972).
- miniature garden: Miniature landscape with dwarf trees, small stones representing rocks, etc., called bonsai in Japanese and shanshui penjing in Chinese, created in containers (usually shallow trays).
- minka: A traditional Japanese farmhouse; varies in style according to the region.
- mizunoya: In traditional Japanese architecture, the room in which preparations are made for the tea ceremony. Also see mizunoya.
- mizuya: In traditional Japanese architecture, the room in which preparations are made for the tea ceremony. Also see mizunoya.
- moya: The central core of a traditional Japanese wooden structure, especially in temple buildings; separated from adjacent areas by pillars between which may be placed sliding doors or hanging screens.
- mukuri-yane: A roof on a traditional Japanese structure which has a convex curvature.
- Nagare style: Also see Nagare-zukuri.
- Nagare-zukuri: A style of Shinto shrine, based on the Ise prototype, but with the front slope of the roof extending to form a canopy over the entrance stair; this space eventually developed into a prayer room for worshipers.
- nagaya: In traditional Japanese architecture, a long house which is divided into many small apartments, each occupied by a family in the employ of a landowner or lord.
- nageshi: In traditional Japanese architecture, a horizontal beam used to connect pillars. Later this term was used for a horizontal board secured to the inner and/or outer sides of columns.
- naka-nuri: The second coat of plaster on a wall of a traditional Japanese building; applied before the finish coat.
- nandaimon: The gate at the entrance of a Japanese Buddhist monastic compound (literally “south great gate”).
- Nara: A temple, located near Nara, Japan, said to have been built at the end of the 6th century… Contains the oldest existing wooden structure in the world, a five-storied pagoda…
- nijiriguchi: A guest entrance, miniature in size, to a Japanese tea-ceremony house; approx. 25 1/2 high and 23 1/2 inches wide; to enter, one must kneel.
- Nijo-jo: A superb example of the Shoin style of Japanese architecture, in Kyoto city, originally constructed for the use of Tokugawa Ieyasu when he visited Kyoto…
- Nikko: A religious center in the Tochigi prefecture of Japan, famous for its shrines and temples…
- nuki: In traditional Japanese architecture, a penetrating tie; fits into a slot or penetrates a pillar.
- nure-yen: In traditional Japanese architecture, a veranda unprotected by an amado or outside wall.
- o-kabe: In traditional Japanese architecture, a type of stud wall covered with plaster or boards which hide the structural components.
- onigawara: Ornamental tiles placed at the ends of the main ridge of the roof of a traditional Japanese structure, at the lower ends of the angle formed by descending roof slopes (kudarimune) and/or at the corner ends (sumimune). The most common form of decoration is an agre mask, from which the tile gets its name.
- Phoenix Hall: A structure located in Uhi, in the Kyoto prefecture of Japan…
- ramma: In traditional Japanese architecture, a type of pierced decorative transom, varying from intricately carved to plain lattice, placed between the top of a sliding-door track and the ceiling.
- Rokuonji: Formerly the villa of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third Shogun of the Muromachi period in Japan, located in Kyoto city… Same as kinkakuji.
- sangawara-buki: A pantile developed in Japan in the latter half of the 17th century; the original function of the marugawara and the hiragawara are combined into one tile; see hongawara-buki.
- shaku: A linear unit of measurement in traditional Japanese construction; equal to 0.994 feet.
- shiage-kabe: The finish coat of plaster on a wall in traditional Japanese construction.
- shibi: A type of acroterion in the shape of a dolphin’s tail; placed at each end of the roof ridge in traditional Japanese architecture. In ancient times it was believed to be a protection against fire.
- shikii: In traditional Japanese architecture, the lower grooved beam which hold a sliding partition or screen. Also see kamoi.
- shikkui: A plaster, mortar, stucco, or whitewash, made from a mixture of lime and clay and having the consistency of glue; used in traditional Japanese construction.
- Shimmei style: Also see Shimmei-zukuri.
- Shimmei-zukuri: A style of Shinto shrine embodying the original style of Japanese building, before the introduction of Buddhism. It consists essentially of a small unpainted rectangular structure raised above ground level on posts inserted directly into the earth. A railed veranda surrounds the structure at floor level, a freestanding post at each gable end supports the ridge, and the bargeboards extend outward from the thickly thatched roof, forming chigi at each end.
- Shinden style: Also see Shinden-zukuri.
- Shinden-zukuri: Also see Shinden-zukuri.
- shin-kabe: In traditional Japanese architecture, a type of plastered wall in which the structural members are exposed.
- shinto: The moral code or system of Japan. Shinto shrines are plain wooden structures, without images, thatched, and approached by passing under one or more torii, or porches composed of two posts bearing one or more cross beams, generally carved. The latter are accepted as symbols of Shinto.
- shintoo: The moral code or system of Japan. Shinto shrines are plain wooden structures, without images, thatched, and approached by passing under one or more torii, or porches composed of two posts bearing one or more cross beams, generally carved. The latter are accepted as symbols of Shinto.
- shita-nuri: In traditional Japanese architecture, the first or ground coat of plaster applied to a wall.
- shitomi-do: A type of latticed door first associated with the Shinden style in Japan; it is divided horizontally at the center, enabling the upper half to be raised outwardly to hook on to a specially placed bar beneath the eaves; the lower half can be removed and stored.
- shoin: Better class of Japanese house (especially of 16th c.), based on a rigidly applied system of proportion, with open plans subdivided by shoji screens, etc.
- Shoin style: Also see Shoin-zukuri.
- Shoin-zukuri: A ceremonial style of Japanese residential architecture in the Kamakura period, deriving its name from the characteristic shoin or study-bay and marked by a hierarchical arrangement of public and private rooms.
- shoji: A very lightweight sliding partition used in Japanese architecture; consists of a wooden lattice covered on one side with translucent white rice paper. The lattice is most often composed of small horizontal rectangles, but narrow vertical rectangles or asymmetrical shapes also are used. The lower section is occasionally filled by a thin wooden panel.
- shoro: A small structure from which a bell is hung in a Japanese temple compound.
- sobo: The living quarters for priests in Japan during the Asuka, Nara, and Heian periods.
- sorin: The crowning spire on a Japanese pagoda; usually made of bronze.
- stone lantern: An outdoor lantern, usually Japanese, used as a permanent garden ornament.
- stroll-garden: Japanese garden developed in the Edo period (1603-1868): extensive, it featured a central pond around which were paths constructed to afford the perambulator carefully designed varied scenes alluding to famous landscapes, poetry, Confucian thought, and even villages. Sounds made by contact of shoes with pebbles on paths, wind through bamboo, and running water were important.
- sugido: Wood-paneled sliding doors in traditional Japanese architecture; they may or may not be decorated.
- sukiya: A Japanese teahouse or tearoom. 2. A style of Japanese domestic architecture, greatly influenced by the teahouse, used for mansions and villas during the Momoyama and Edo periods.
- tai-no-ya: Literally “confronting houses.” In the Shinden style of Japanese architecture, one of the residence annex buildings which were erected to the east and west of the main building, and sometimes to the north; these were connected to the main building by open corridors.
- Taisha style: The oldest style of Shinto shrines in existence. The Grand Shrine of lzumo on the coast of the Sea of Japan is the outstanding example, consisting of four compartments surrounded by a verandah with a balustrade.
- takayuka jutaku: A type of Japanese structure with an elevated floor, perhaps used as a grain storage house during the Yayoi period.
- tamo: A wood from Japan, varying in color from brownish tan through gray to almost white; in veneer the figure resembles a peanut shell.
- tana: In Japanese residential architecture, a recess with built-in shelving, usually adjoining a tokonoma.
- taruki: In traditional Japanese construction, a rafter.
- tatami: A thick straw floor mat, covered with smooth, finely woven reeds and bound with plain or decorated bands of silk, cotton, or hemp; serves as a floor covering in a Japanese house; has a standard size of approximately six feet by three feet; used as a standard unit of area in the measurement of room size.
- tea garden: A Japanese garden next to a teahouse, usually small and serene. 2. An outdoor tearoom in a public garden, serving refreshments, including tea.
- tea-garden: Connected with Japanese rituals in Zen Buddhism from the 15th c., the setting for the tea-ceremony… 2. Fashionable garden in Victorian times where ladies might take tea and meet friends…
- teahouse: A Japanese garden house used for the tea ceremony. See sukiya.
- tenjo: In traditional Japanese construction, a ceiling.
- tenshu-kaku: The keep or donjon of a Japanese castle.
- to: A type of Japanese pagoda of two (taho-to), three (sanju-no-to), five (goju-no-to), or seven (nana-ju-no-to) stories which enshrines Buddhist holy relics. In Japan these are usually square, but the taho-to differs in that it has a stupa-like round protuberance above the lower square roof which, in turn, carries a cylindrical railed section crowned by a square roof bearing a sorin (as do all other multistoried pagodas).
- tokonoma: Alcove for seating or for display (e.g. prints, flower-pot, etc.) in a Japanese room.
- toko-no-ma: An alcove having a raised floor, located in the most formal room of a traditional Japanese-style residence; used to display a hanging, scroll, small objects, a flower arrangement, etc.
- torii: The posts-and-curved-lintels gateway to a Shinto temple.
- tsubo: A traditional Japanese unit of area; equal to 1 square ken or 3.95 square feet.
- uwa-nuri: The finish coat of plaster on a wall in a traditional Japanese structure.
- wa-goya: In a traditional Japanese structure, a roof-truss system, distinct from European truss systems; consists only of a combination of horizontal and vertical members.
- yagura: In Japanese architecture, any turret or tower. 2. In Japanese castle architecture, any tower except the donjon.
- yane: In traditional Japanese architecture, a roof.
- yosemune-yane: In traditional Japanese architecture, a hipped ridge roof having a sloping rectangular shape on each long side and a sloping triangular shape on each short side.
- yuka: In traditional Japanese architecture, a floor.
- zashiki: In a Japanese-style house, the main room used for entertaining guest; its floor is covered with tatami; usually has a toko-no-ma.
- Zen garden-design: Term coined in the West which seems to refer to many types of Eastern-inspired gardens supposedly influenced by Zen Buddhism, esp. Japanese garden-design. Examples would include the tea-garden, the stroll-garden, and sundry sand- and stone-gardens which have had such an impact on Western gardens. Chief characteristics included understatement, economy of means, borrowed landscapes, rock-placings, water, representations by means of rock-work of mountains, and responses to drawings of landscapes. Zen Buddhism focuses on meditation rather than prayer as a means towards Enlightenment, and so Zen garden-design evolved to provide suitable environments conducive to this activity, providing peace, beauty, and no distractions.
- zosaku: Fixtures and fittings of a traditional Japanese structure; includes the floor, ceiling, etc., but not the structural members.
Also see Architecture Origin index.
Also see Architecture index.