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Japanese Architecture
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The History and Future of Wooden
Architecture in Kansai
MIWA Hiroshi
Architects Regional Planners & Associates, Kyoto
Kansai is the treasure house of
Japanese architecture, architecture that
is known for its use of wood. Almost
every type of building, be it house,
Buddhist temple, Shinto shrine, or
castle, uses wood as its major structural
material, with bricks generally made
from baked soil for roofing until the
dawn of the modern era. Forms of and
techniques used in wood construction
reflect the climate of Japan and are
deeply rooted in the evolution of the
Japanese culture. The Japanese climate
features four distinct seasons, seen
clearly in Kansai. In addition, Kansai,
which for centuries held the nation's
capital, in Kyoto, has within it a large
number of objects now classified as
national treasures and important cultural assets. So it stands to reason that
many wooden structures still exist in the Kansai area. In particular, because
they were spared major damage during World War II, a large number of
wooden buildings survive today in the ancient Kansai cities of Nara and
Kyoto.
It is not well understood why Japanese people chose wood, rather than
stone or soil, as a major building material. One theory speculates that
people came first from the south and then from the north to the Japanese
archipelago to become the nation's ancestors. This theory is supported by a
local custom still practiced today in Wakayama Prefecture, along the Pacific
coast, found to be similar to a custom in Polynesia. The Kotai Jingu of the
Ise Jingu Shrines, Mie Prefecture, is built with plain, unembellished wood,
even for roofing. Almost identical wooden structures are found in an area
near Lake Baikal. Wood is far less subject to weathering in cold areas, so it
does not need painting. Such a structural style reminds me of houses used
by people in the 2nd century or earlier who originally came from places in
the north of the Asian continent. It is a characteristic of Japanese culture to
introduce aspects from other cultures and then shape these into a unique
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culture of their own.
Periodic dispatch of Japanese envoys to
the Tang Dynasty in China was stopped
100 years after the construction of the
Heian-kyo capital, in today's Kyoto, at
the end of the 8th century, and this
official disconnection with China started
Sumitsubo
the "Japanization" of cultural assets
A tool used by carpenters and stonemasons to
received from China. Japanese people
mark straigh lines on work surfaces.
gave birth to and refined architectural
styles and techniques that thus became unique to Japan, just like they
invented their own phonetic letters or kana based on Chinese
characters.Five-storied pagodas seen at some Buddhist temples are a
typical wooden architectural technique.The wooden towers we see today
have survived repeated earthquakes and typhoons over the centuries.A type
of bracket called a tokyo, made up of smaller wooden pieces, is used as a
roof support; as the tower is swayed by an earthquake or the wind, the
bracket becomes heated through the friction of its component pieces as the
lateral kinetic energy is converted to thermal energy. In this way, disastrous
forces are alleviated.
The Buddhist temple Hosshoji, built at Okazaki, Kyoto, in 1083 by
Emperor SHIRAKAWA, is recorded as being an 82-meter tall, octagonal,
9-story pagoda. Buddhist and Shinto structures and sukiya, a kind of tea
room, avoid the use of decoration so as to emphasize a simple beauty, a
characteristic of Japanese architecture. Wooden structures in Japan feature
a unique proportion demonstrated through columns and beams and
combinations of gentle curves, such as karahafu, a type of rounded gable.
This beauty of this type of architecture is genetically different from that of
masonry structures featuring decorations on the surfaces of stones or bricks.
Horyuji Temple in Nara was rebuilt at the end of the 7th century. Through
ongoing repairs, however, many of the original building materials have been
replaced, and in doing so, the building itself has slowly undergone a rebirth.
In contrast, the Kotai Jingu of the Ise Jingu Shrines holds a rebuilding
ceremony every 20 years. In this ceremony, called Shikinen Sengu, the
Kotai Jingu buildings are razed and identical ones are erected on adjacent
sites. This ceremony provides an excellent opportunity to maintain the
building's technical inheritance.
Twice during the past century Japan
experienced threats to its culture of
using wood. The first was at the time of
the Meiji Restoration, in 1868. The
new, modern government wanted the
people to fully understand that the start
of the new Emperor-centered
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constitutional monarchy meant an end to
the ways of the past, and to this end, the
government promulgated an order to
separate Buddhist temples from Shinto
shrines. In Japan, Shintoism, the native
belief of the Japanese people, had over
the centuries found a way to harmonize
and cohabit with the newer religion of
Buddhism that had come from the
continent in the 7th and 8th centuries.
Consequently, Shinto shrines came to
have Buddhist images and Buddhist priests as well as Shinto priests.
Wanting to restress the original beliefs of the Japanese, the new Meiji
Government outlawed this custom of integrated Shintoism-Buddhism and
ordered the removal of everything Buddhist from Shinto shrines all over the
country. This idea was spread among the people and evolved into a nationwide movement to raze Buddhist temples. As a result, many Buddhist
temples were destroyed up to about 1973. At the same time, many castles
were also destroyed, to be replaced by new governmental offices, schools,
or military posts.
The second crisis occurred during World War II. Even in many of the cities
spared bombing, large numbers of wooden houses were pulled down after
the residents fled to the countryside, ostensibly for the purpose of preventing
the spread of fire. In the post-war years, the American lifestyle was widely
adopted by Japanese people, and American architectural structures
introduced to Japan ousted traditional wooden structures. Fire-resistant
structures were promoted, while the construction of traditional wooden
structures was discouraged. Wooden Buddhist temple buildings with their
impressive high roofs were banned under the height restrictions of the
Building Standards Law. Since the rebuilding of the main hall of the Higashi
Honganji Temple in Kyoto in 1895, no big wooden structures have been
built except for some designated as cultural assets. This is a classic case of
technology, information, and law jointly alienating the national culture from
the climatic characteristics of the country.
There is definitely no denying that wood
is susceptible to fire. Japanese cities
have been repeatedly devastated by
wars, earthquakes, and fires. But after
every such destruction, better cities
were reborn. This rebirth, in a way,
symbolizes the vitality of the Japanese
people. The recent Hanshin-Awaji
Earthquake that hit the Kobe area and
the northern part of Awaji Island
collapsed a huge number of wooden
structures, which completely burned in
the resulting fires. Detailed analysis of
disaster damage reveals, however, that
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wooden structures designed with
appropriate structural considerations are
sufficiently resistant to seismic forces.
This kind of knowledge may also be
Courtesy of the Takenaka Carpentry Tools
Museum
obtained from the traditional wisdom
represented by five-storied pagodas. Thus there is a growing voice calling
for the revaluing of the architectural beauty and urban grace most suited to
the climate of Japan and warning of the threat posed to the global
environment by modern build-and-scrap practices. Japanese people are
enchanted by the life force of wood, by structures whose wooden
components can resurrect themselves so as to live as parts of buildings even
after being cut from trees.
Professor UEDA Atsushi, of Kyoto Seika University, says, "Wooden
structures are associated with the sense of life and death lying in the heart of
the Japanese." Research on the creation of new designs and technologies
incorporating the use of wood is rendering excellent results. Architects in
Kansai are developing proposals for future city planning, as they believe the
Japanese culture finds its identity in the wooden architecture of the city. In
1995, TAKAMATSU Shin and UCHII Shozo held an exhibit in which
ideas of creating a grand city using wood were proposed. Their efforts not
only suggested new horizons in architectural form and technology but also
caused a stir in the present mindset regarding lifestyles and laws.
All images Copyright. 1997 Kansai International Public Relations Promotion Office.
All Rights Reserved.
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