Japanese architectural features

thumb|Tatami mat in Enkō-ji

thumb|The torii at Itsukushima Shrine

overview about toilets in Japan

thumb|A modern Japanese kotatsu thumb|The underside of an electric kotatsu, with the heater visible in the centre thumb|Edo period|Edo-period kotatsu at the Fukagawa Edo Museum

thumb|upright=1.35|Shoji paper sliding doors in the Rinshunkaku at Sankei-en (Important Cultural Property) thumb|upright=1.35|Shoji doors next to the tokonoma alcove, Rinshunkaku thumb|upright=1.35| alt=View along wood-floored engawa towards a corner showing shoji edge-on and, on the far side of the corner, from the inside, with light shining through.|A tatami room surrounded by paper shoji (paper outside, lattice inside). The shoji are surrounded by an engawa (porch/corridor); the engawa is surrounded by [[garasu-do, all-glass sliding panels.]]

thumb|Fusuma thumb|Kin-busuma (golden fusuma) In Japanese architecture, are vertical rectangular panels which can slide from side to side to redefine spaces within a room, or act as doors. They typically measure about wide by tall, the same size as a tatami mat, and are thick. The heights of fusuma have increased in recent years due to an increase in average height of the Japanese population, and a height is now common. In older constructions, they are as small as high. They consist of a lattice-like wooden understructure covered in cardboard and a layer of paper or cloth on both sides. They t

thumb|A with a kakemono and flower arrangement thumb|Detailed view of a and aspects of a Japanese room thumb|View from the side of a thumb| at Tenryū-ji

300px|right|thumb|A displaying a and are miniature household altars provided to enshrine a Shinto . They are most commonly found in Japan, the home of worship.

thumb|right|240px|This washitsu has tatami flooring and shoji (doors). thumb|right|240px|A traditional washitsu

two wrathful and muscular guardians of the Buddha standing at the entrance of Buddhist temples in East Asian Buddhism

thumb|260px|A pair of komainu, the "a" on the right, the "um" on the left

highly-rounded arched pedestrian bridge associated with gardens in China and Japan

thumb|The writer Sei Shōnagon standing behind a thumb| protecting the view to the Imperial throne in the of Kyoto Imperial Palace thumb|Less formal (but still cloth-bound) in a common home; from the more brightly-lit side, they are opaque thumb| on a train; from the more dimly-lit side, they are transparent

thumbnail|300px|12 original tenshu of various castles

measurement in Japanese architecture; today standardized as 20/11 metres

thumb|Chōzubachi at a temple thumb|Performing temizu from a domestic chōzu-bachi, 1910s. A , or water bowl, is a vessel used to rinse the hands in Japanese temples, shrines and gardens. Usually made of stone, it plays an important role in the tea ceremony. Guests use it to wash their hands before entering the tearoom, a practice originally adapted from the custom of rinsing one’s mouth and cleansing one’s body in the chōzuya before entering the sacred precincts of a Shinto shrine or a Buddhist temple.

thumb|A Meiji era bearing a resemblance to a [[veranda, with people for scale. Note the slope of the ground under the , and the traditional stone step.]] thumb|upright|, with sliding glass doors outside, and ( with both paper and glass panes) inside. The solid wood leaning up against the corner is a storm shutter, and is usually stored away. An or is an edging strip of non-tatami-matted flooring in Japanese architecture, usually wood or bamboo. The may run around the rooms, on the outside of the building, in which case they form a veranda that can be used as a porch or sunroom.

{| style="border-collapse:collapse" cellpadding="0" |style="border:1px solid black;"|alt=Wooden belltower, old style|x200px |style="border:1px solid black;"|alt=Wooden belltower, new style|x200px |} The two main types of bell tower in Japan The or is the bell tower of a Buddhist temple in Japan, housing the temple's . It can also be found at some Shinto shrines which used to function as temples (see article Shinbutsu shūgō), as for example Nikkō Tōshō-gū. Two main types exist, the older , which has walls, and the more recent or , which does not.

type of roof in East Asian architecture

thumb|right|Takashimadaira Danchi in Itabashi, [[Tokyo]] '''''' (, literally "group land") is the Japanese word for a large cluster of apartment buildings or houses of a particular style and design, typically built as public housing by government authorities. Older danchi are sometimes compared to Khrushchyovkas, a similar housing development project in the Soviet Union from the same period. The Japan Housing Corporation (JHC), now known as the Urban Renaissance Agency (UR), was founded in 1955. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the JHC built many in suburban areas to offset the increasing h

thumb|250 px|The Shiro-shoin at Hongan-ji

thumb|250px|Onigawara on the roof of Tokyo University of the Arts

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|250px|Drawings of a kara-hafu is a type of curved gable found in Japanese architecture. It is used on Japanese castles, Buddhist temples, and Shinto shrines. Roofing materials such as tile and bark may be used as coverings. The face beneath the gable may be flush with the wall below, or it may terminate on a lower roof.

Japanese buildings which mean temple, shrine, hall, reception room, shop or store

floors that make a chirping sound when walked upon

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.

right|thumb|237px|Chikaraishi at the Adachi Shrine right|thumb|237px|Chikaraishi at Yanagimori-jinja , also or bijuru (Okinawan), are heavy rocks used at least since the 8th century CE in Japan to develop or demonstrate physical strength. Commonly found within Shinto shrines, they were used for competition, divination, physical fitness and entertainment; some famous examples have also become tourist attractions, and many have been recognised as Important Cultural Assets by the Japanese Government.

Asian-styled ornamental tile set on both ends of the ridgepole that tops a shingled roof

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

Practice of dining in a toilet room

{| style="border-collapse:collapse" cellpadding="0" |style="border:1px solid black;"|alt=Yakushu-ji|x200px |style="border:1px solid black;"|alt=Kibitsu Jinja|x200px |} Two examples of kairō , , is the Japanese version of a cloister, a covered corridor originally built around the most sacred area of a Buddhist temple, a zone which contained the kondō and the tō. Nowadays it can be found also at Shinto shrines and at shinden-zukuri aristocratic residences.

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

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|A mitamaya

thumb|210px|right|Katsuogi with chigi on the Nishina Shinmei Shrine or are short, decorative logs used in Japanese and Shinto architecture. They are placed at right angles to the ridgeline of roofs, and are usually featured in religious or imperial architecture. Katsuogi predate Buddhist influence and are an architectural element endemic to Japan. They are often placed on the roof with chigi, a forked ornamentation used on Shinto shrines. Today, katsuogi and chigi are used exclusively on Shinto buildings and can be used to distinguish them from other religious structures, such as Buddhist tem

{| style="border-collapse:collapse" cellpadding="0" |style="border:1px solid black;"|alt=Wooden pagoda, sōrin|x200px |style="border:1px solid black;"|alt=Stone pagoda, sōrin|x200px |} The two types of pagoda finial (sōrin), in bronze (tahōtō) and stone (hōkyōintō)

type of roof

is a type of ornamental finial used on Japanese railings. Gibōshi bridge ornaments resemble an onion; the ends are bulbous and typically come to a point. It is believed that the shape of gibōshi was from hōju (; "sacred gem" or "cintāmaṇi") which is used to decorate roofs. They are often found on bridges in Japanese gardens, temples and shinto shrines.