Japanese Buddhist architecture

Traditional stone-crafted lighting fixtures seen throughout the East Asia

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

main building in Japanese buddhist temples

, also known as or are large bells found in Buddhist temples throughout Japan, used to summon the monks to prayer and to demarcate periods of time. Rather than containing a clapper, are struck from the outside, using either a handheld mallet or a beam suspended on ropes.

architecture of Buddhist temples in Japan

{| 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.

the first hall inside shanmen in Chinese Buddhist temples, which enshrines Four Heavenly Kings, Maitreya Buddha, Skanda

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

main hall of a buddhist temple in China, Korea or Vietnam

East Asian traditional layout of sangharama

significant component of Japanese Buddhist temple compounds

Japanese term for gate

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

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.

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

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

{| 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.

275 px|Tōdai-ji's Nandaimon is one of the few extant examples of the daibutsuyō|thumb is a Japanese religious architectural style which emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century. Together with Wayō and Zenshūyō, it is one of the three most significant styles developed by Japanese Buddhism on the basis of Chinese models. Originally called , because it had nothing to do with India it was rechristened by scholar Ōta Hirotarō during the 20th century, and the new term stuck. Ōta derived the name from Chōgen's work, particularly Tōdai-ji's Daibutsuden.

thumb|Kōzan-ji (Shimonoseki)|Kōzan-ji's butsuden in Shimonoseki is a Japanese Buddhist architectural style derived from Chinese Song Dynasty architecture. Named after the Zen sect of Buddhism which brought it to Japan, it emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century. Together with Wayō and Daibutsuyō, it is one of the three most significant styles developed by Japanese Buddhism on the basis of Chinese models. Until World War II, this style was called but, like the Daibutsuyō style, it was re-christened by Ōta Hirotarō, a 20th-century scholar. Its most typical features are a more or less lin

thumb|275 px|Engaku-ji, a building with old-style katōmado , also written , is a style of pointed arch or bell-shaped window found in Japanese architecture. It first arrived in Japan from China together with Zen Buddhism, as an element of Zen style architecture, but from the end of the 16th century it started to be used in temples of other Buddhist sects, Shinto shrines, castles, and samurai residences as well. The window initially was not flared, but its design and shape changed over time: the two vertical frames were widened and curves were added at the bottom. The kanji characters used for

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|x200px|The kyōzō of Zenkō-ji temple in Japanese Buddhist architecture is a repository for sūtras and chronicles of the temple history. It is also called , , or . In ancient times the kyōzō was placed opposite the belfry on the east–west axis of the temple. The earliest extant kyōzō is at Hōryū-ji, and it is a two-storied structure. An example of one-storied kyōzō is at Tōshōdai-ji in Nara. A ''kyōzō's usual size is 3 x 3 ken''.

Japanese architectural element

annex halls in Chinese Buddhist temples for enshrining masters of various Buddhism schools

an building in Chinese Buddhist temples, which is the place for senior monks to preach

thumb|Ichijō-ji's [[pagoda is an example of the wayō style.]] is a Buddhist architectural style developed in Japan before the Kamakura period (1185－1333), and is one of the important Buddhist architectural styles in Japan along with Daibutsuyō and the Zenshūyō, which were developed based on Chinese architectural styles from the Kamakura period. This style originated in the Asuka (538－710) and Nara period (710－794), when Japanese studied Buddhist architecture of the Tang dynasty, and was improved in the Heian period (794－1185) to suit the Japanese climate and aesthetic sense. After the Kamakur

thumb|275 px|Kakurin-ji's Main Hall is an architectural style born in Japan during the Muromachi period from the fusion of elements from three different antecedent styles: wayō, daibutsuyō, and zenshūyō. It is exemplified by the main hall at Kakurin-ji. The combination of wayō and daibutsuyō in particular became so frequent that sometimes it is classed separately by scholars under the name .