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Concept
Japanese architecture
Summary
Japanese architecture has been typified by wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors (fusuma) and other traditional partitions were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space to be customized for different occasions. People usually sat on cushions or otherwise on the floor, traditionally; chairs and high tables were not widely used until the 20th century. Since the 19th century, however, Japan has incorporated much of Western, modern, and post-modern architecture into construction and design, and is today a leader in cutting-edge architectural design and technology.
The earliest Japanese architecture was seen in prehistoric times in simple pit-houses and stores adapted to the needs of a hunter-gatherer population. Influence from Han dynasty China via Korea saw the introduction of more complex grain stores and ceremonial burial chambers.
The introduction of Buddhism in Japan during the sixth century was a catalyst for large-scale temple building using complicated techniques in wood. Influence from the Chinese Sui and Tang dynasties led to the foundation of the first permanent capital in Nara. Its checkerboard street layout used the Chinese capital of Chang'an as a template for its design.
In 894 during the Heian period (794–1185), Japan abolished kentōshi (Japanese missions to Tang China) and began to distance itself from Chinese culture, and a culture called Kokufu bunka (lit., Japanese culture) which was suited to the Japanese climate and aesthetic sense flourished. The shinden-zukuri style, which was the architectural style of the residences of nobles in this period, showed the distinct uniqueness of Japanese architecture and permanently determined the characteristics of later Japanese architecture. Its features are an open structure with few walls that can be opened and closed with doors, shitomi and sudare, a structure in which shoes are taken off to enter the house on stilts, and sitting or sleeping directly on tatami mats without using chairs and beds.
Official source
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