Gates in Japan

Shinto shrine in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

thumb|The torii at Itsukushima Shrine

thumb|210px|right|Marker at site of Rashōmon, Kyoto

thumb|The reconstructed Suzakumon of Heijō Palace at night The was the main gate built in the center of the south end of the imperial palaces in the Japanese ancient capitals of Fujiwara-kyō (Kashihara), Heijō-kyō (Nara), and later Heian-kyō (Kyoto). The placement followed the ancient Chinese palace model requirements at the time, where , the Vermilion Bird, was the Guardian of the South.

thumb|275px|Tōfuku-ji's sanmon (Japan's National Treasure)

The is the outer of two large entrance gates that ultimately leads to the Sensō-ji (the inner being the Hōzōmon) in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. The gate, with its lantern and statues, is popular with tourists. It stands at 11.7 m tall, 11.4 m wide and covers an area of 69.3 m2. The first gate was built in 941, but the current gate dates from 1960, after the previous gate was destroyed in a fire in 1865.

thumb|Shureimon or Shurei no mon thumb|Shureimon as depicted on the 2000 yen note

gate of Imperial Palace of Tokyo (Former Edo Castle)

thumb|250px|A kara-mon at Nijō Castle The is a type of gate seen in Japanese architecture. It is characterized by the usage of kara-hafu, an undulating bargeboard peculiar to Japan. Kara-mon are often used at the entrances of Japanese castles, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, and have historically been a symbol of authority.

Japanese term for gate

thumb|Rōmon at Hannya-ji, a National Treasure. Note the absence of stairs to the second story.

thumb|Niōmon is the Japanese name of a Buddhist temple gate guarded by two wooden warriors called Niō (lit. Two Kings). The gate is called Heng Ha Er Jiang (哼哈二将) in China and Geumgangmun (금강문) in Korea. The two statues are inside the two posts of the gate itself, one at the left, one at the right. Structurally, it usually is either a rōmon or a nijūmon and can measure either 5x2 or 3x2 bays. It can sometimes have just one story, as in the case of Asakusa's Kaminarimon.

300px|thumb|Sōmon is the gate at the entrance of a Buddhist temple in Japan. It often precedes the bigger and more important sanmon.

thumb|Nijūmon (the sanmon of [[Tōfuku-ji, a National Treasure)]] is one of two types of two-story mons presently used in Japan (the other one being the rōmon) and can be found at most Japanese Buddhist temples. This gate is distinguishable from its relative by the roof above the first floor which skirts the entire upper story, absent in a rōmon. Accordingly, it has a series of brackets (tokyō) supporting the roof's eaves both at the first and at the second story. In a rōmon, the brackets support a balcony. The tokyō are usually three-stepped (mitesaki) with tail rafters at the third step. A n

shinto torii gate

historical Japanese gate

36 gates of Edo Castle