Shinto architecture

The haiden is the hall of worship or oratory of the shrine. It is generally placed in front of the shrine's main sanctuary (honden) and often built on a larger scale than the latter. The haiden is often connected to the honden by a heiden, or hall of offerings. While the honden is the place for the enshrined kami and off-limits to the general public, the haiden provides a space for ceremonies and for worshiping the kami.^[17][18]

Offertory hall (heiden)

The heiden is the part of a shrine used to house offerings, and normally consists of a section linking the honden and the haiden .^[19] It can also be called chūden (中殿) or in other ways, and its position can sometimes vary. In spite of its name, nowadays it is used mostly for rituals.

Sanctuary (honden)

The honden, also called shinden (神殿) is the most sacred building of shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined kami. The kami, in itself incorporeal, is usually represented physically by a mirror or sometimes by a statue.^[20] The building is normally in the rear of the shrine and closed to the general public. The sections Most common shrine styles and Other styles below are dedicates specifically to honden and their characteristics.

Other elements

Hokora

A hokora or hokura is a very small Shinto shrine either found on the precincts of a larger shrine and dedicated to folk kami, or on a street side, enshrining kami not under the jurisdiction of any large shrine.^[21] Dōsojin, minor kami protecting travelers from evil spirits, may for example be enshrined in a hokora.^[21]

Sessha, massha

Sessha (摂社, 'auxiliary shrine') and massha (末社, 'branch shrine'), also called eda-miya (枝宮)^[14] are small or miniature shrines having a deep historical relationship with a more important shrine or with the kami it enshrines, and fall under that shrine's jurisdiction.^[22] The two terms used to have different meanings, but must be today considered synonyms. For this reason, this kind of shrine is now sometimes called setsumatsusha (摂末社).^{[note 2]}

Most common shrine styles

Shrine buildings can have many different basic layouts, usually named either after a famous shrine's honden (e.g. hiyoshi-zukuri, named after Hiyoshi Taisha), or a structural characteristic (e.g. irimoya-zukuri, after the hip-and-gable roof it adopts. The suffix -zukuri in this case means "structure".)

The honden's roof is always gabled, and some styles also have a veranda-like aisle called

• hirairi or hirairi-zukuri (平入・平入造) – a style of construction in which the building has its main entrance on the side which runs parallel to the roof's ridge (non gabled-side). The shinmei-zukuri, nagare-zukuri, hachiman-zukuri, and hie-zukuri belong to this type.^[22]
• tsumairi or tsumairi-zukuri (妻入・妻入造) – a style of construction in which the building has its main entrance on the side which runs perpendicular to the roof's ridge (gabled side). The taisha-zukuri, sumiyoshi-zukuri, ōtori-zukuri and kasuga-zukuri belong to this type.^[22]

Proportions are also important. A building of a given style often must have certain proportions measured in

The oldest styles are the tsumairi shinmei-zukuri, taisha-zukuri, and sumiyoshi-zukuri, believed to predate the arrival of Buddhism.^[22]

The two most common are the hirairi nagare-zukuri and the tsumairi kasuga-zukuri.^[23] Larger, more important shrines tend to have unique styles.

Nagare-zukuri

The nagare-zukuri (流造, 'flowing style') or nagare hafu-zukuri (流破風造, 'flowing gabled style') is a style characterized by a very asymmetrical gabled roof (切妻屋根 kirizuma-yane in Japanese) projecting outwards on the non-gabled side, above the main entrance, to form a portico.^[23] This is the feature which gives the style its name, the most common among shrines all over the country.

Sometimes the basic layout consisting of an elevated core (母屋,

Kasuga-zukuri

Main article: Kasuga-zukuri

Kasuga Taisha's honden. It is characterized by the extreme smallness of the building, just 1 × 1 ken in size. In Kasuga Taisha's case, this translates in 1.9 m  ×  2.6 m.^[25] The roof is gabled with a single entrance at the gabled end, decorated with chigi and katsuogi, covered with cypress bark and curved upwards at the eaves. Supporting structures are painted vermillion, while the plank walls are white.^[25]

After the Nagare-zukuri, this is the most common style, with most instances in the Kansai region around Nara.^[23]

Other styles

Follows a list of other styles (in alphabetical order). Many are rare, some unique. Most deal with the structure of a single building but others, for example the Ishi-no-ma-zukuri style, define instead the relationship between member structures. In that case, the same building can fall under two separate classifications. For example, the honden and haiden at Ōsaki Hachimangū are single-storied, irimoya-zukuri edifices.^[26] Because they are connected by a passage called ishi-no-ma and are covered by a single roof, however, the complex is classified as belonging to the ishi-no-ma-zukuri'style (also called gongen-zukuri).

Gongen-zukuri

Further information: Ishi-no-ma-zukuri

The name comes from Nikkō Tōshō-gū in Nikkō because it enshrines the Tōshō Daigongen (Tokugawa Ieyasu).

Hachiman-zukuri

Main article: Hachiman-zukuri

Matsuyama, Ehime, is a rare example of the hachiman-zukuri style. The honden (left) is surrounded by a cloister-like corridor called kairō

(right).

Hachiman-zukuri (八幡造) is a style used at Hachiman shrines in which two parallel structures with gabled roofs are interconnected on the non-gabled side, forming one building which, when seen from the side, gives the impression of two.^[27] The front structure is called gaiden (外殿, outer sanctuary), the rear one naiden (内殿, inner sanctuary), and together they form the honden.^[14] There are entrances at the center of the non-gabled side. In general, the rear structure is 3 × 2 ken, while the front one is 3 × 1.

The space between the two structures is one

ken wide and forms a room called ai-no-ma (相の間).^[27]

The actual width and height of this room vary with the shrine.

Extant examples are

Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū. This style, of which only five Edo period examples survive, may be of Buddhist origin, since some Buddhist buildings show the same division. For example, Tōdai-ji's hokke-dō^{[note 3]} is divided in two sections laid out front and back. Structural details also show a strong relationship with the Heian period style called shinden-zukuri used in aristocratic residences.^[27] Another possible origin of this style may have been early palaces, known to have had parallel ridges on the roof.^[27]

Hiyoshi-zukuri

Main article: Hiyoshi-zukuri

Ōtsu, Shiga.^[23]

They are the East and West Honden Hon-gū (本殿本宮) and the Sessha Usa Jingū Honden (摂社宇佐神宮本殿).

The building is composed of a 3x2

ken core called moya surrounded on three sides by a 1-ken wide hisashi, totaling 5x3 ken (see photo).^[28] The three-sided hisashi is unique and typical of this style. The gabled roof extends in small porticos on the front and the two gabled sides.^[23]

The roof on the back has a peculiar and characteristic shape.

Irimoya-zukuri

Main article:

Irimoya-zukuri

Kitano Tenman-gū's honden.^[29] The style is of Chinese origin and arrived in Japan together with Buddhism in the 6th century. It was originally used in the Kon-dō and Kō-dō (lecture halls) of Buddhist temples, but started to be used also in shrines later, during the Japanese Middle Ages.^[30]

The name derives from its hip and gable roof (入母屋屋根, irimoya yane). In Japan the gable is right above the edge of the shrine's moya, while the hip covers the hisashi.

Shiga prefecture and Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto.^[29]

gongen-zukuri

shrine. From the top: honden, ishi-no-ma, haiden. In yellow the ridges of the various roofs

Ishi-no-ma-zukuri

Main article: Ishi-no-ma-zukuri

Ishi-no-ma-zukuri (石の間造), also called gongen-zukuri (権現造), yatsumune-zukuri (八棟造) and miyadera-zukuri (宮寺造) is the name of a complex shrine structure in which the haiden, or worship hall, and the honden, or main sanctuary, are interconnected under the same roof in the shape of an H.^[31]

The connecting passage can be called ai-no-ma (相の間), ishi-no-ma (石の間), or chūden (中殿, intermediate hall).^[31] The floor of each of the three halls can be at a different level. If the ai-no-ma is paved with stones it is called ishi-no-ma, whence the name of the style. It can, however, be paved with planks or tatami. Its width is often the same as the honden's, with the haiden from one to three ken wider.^[31]

One of the oldest examples is

Kitano Tenman-gū in Kyoto.^[31] The gongen-zukuri name comes from Nikkō Tōshō-gū in Nikkō, which enshrines the Tōshō Daigongen (Tokugawa Ieyasu) and adopts this structure.^[32]

Kibitsu-zukuri

Main article: Kibitsu-zukuri

Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan

is the sole example of this style.

Misedana-zukuri

Misedana-zukuri (見世棚造 or 店棚造, showcase style) owes its name to the fact that, unlike the other shrine styles, it doesn't feature a stairway at the entrance, and the veranda is completely flat.

beehives or relatively large and have 1x2, 1x3 or even, in one case, 1x7 bays.^[33]

Apart from the lack of a staircase, such shrines belong to the nagare-zukuri or kasuga-zukuri styles and have their entrance on the non-gabled (hirairi) or gabled side (tsumairi).

Ōtori-zukuri

The Ōtori-zukuri (大鳥造) is a tsumairi style named after

Ōsaka. Its floor is elevated and 2x2 ken in size, without a veranda or railings. This style seems to have the same origins as the ancient sumiyoshi- and taisha-zukuri styles, which it resembles, and the absence of a veranda may be due to the use in origin of an earthen floor, still in use in some shrines.^[34] The interior is divided in two, naijin (inner chamber) and gejin (outer chamber).^[34] The roof is covered with layers of cypress bark shingles and has a high ridge with an ornamental rather than functional role. It does not curve upwards at the eaves and the bargeboards are simple and straight.^[34]

Chigi and three katsuogi are present.

Owari-zukuri

Owari-zukuri (尾張造) is a complex style found in large shrines of what used to be called

Owari Ōkunitama Shrine and Tsushima Shrine.^[23]

Primitive shrine layout without honden

This style is rare, but historically important. It is also unique in that the

Futarasan Shrine near Nikkō, whose shintai is Mount Nantai. For details, see Birth and evolution of Shinto shrines

above.

Ryōnagare-zukuri

Main article: Nagare-zukuri

Ryōnagare-zukuri (両流造, double flow style) is an evolution of the nagare-zukuri in which the roof flows down to form a portico on both non-gabled sides.^[23] Examples are the honden at Itsukushima Shrine and at Matsuo Taisha.

Shinmei-zukuri

Main article: Shinmei-zukuri

Shinmei-zukuri (神明造) is an ancient style typical of, and most common at Ise Grand Shrine, the holiest of Shinto shrines.^[23] It is most common in Mie prefecture.^[35] Characterized by an extreme simplicity, its basic features can be seen in Japanese architecture from the Kofun period (250–538 C.E.) onwards and it is considered the pinnacle of Japanese traditional architecture. Built in planed, unfinished wood, the honden is either 3x2 ken or 1x1ken in size, has a raised floor, a gabled roof with an entry on one the non-gabled sides, no upward curve at the eaves, and decorative logs called chigi and katsuogi protruding from the roof's ridge.^[35] The oldest extant example is Nishina Shinmei Shrine, the shrine which gives the style its name.^[22]

Sumiyoshi-zukuri

Main article: Sumiyoshi-zukuri

Ōsaka. The building is 4 ken wide and 2 ken deep, and has an entrance under the gable.^[36] Its interior is divided in two sections, one at the front (gejin (外陣)) and one at the back (naijin (内陣)) with a single entrance at the front.^[37]

Construction is simple, but the pillars are painted in vermilion and the walls in white.

The style is supposed to have its origin in old palace architecture

Sumiyoshi Sanjin complex in Fukuoka Prefecture.^[37]

In both cases, as in many others, there is no veranda.

Taisha-zukuri

Main article: Taisha-zukuri

Izumo Taisha and, like Ise Grand Shrine's, has chigi and katsuogi, plus archaic features like gable-end pillars and a single central pillar (shin no mihashira).^[23] Because its floor is raised on stilts, it is believed to have its origin in raised-floor granaries similar to those found in Toro, Shizuoka prefecture.^[38]

The honden normally has a 2x2 ken footprint (12.46x12.46 m in Izumo Taisha's case), with an entrance on the gabled end. The stairs to the honden are covered by a cypress bark roof. The oldest extant example of the style is

Kamosu Jinja's honden in Shimane Prefecture

, built in the 16th century.

Gallery

• 
  A metal torii
• 
  A sandō
• 
  A temizuya
• 
  A komainu
• 
  Izumo Taisha's honden
• 
  Hanazono Jinja's haiden
• 
  Kasuga Taisha's heiden
• 
  Hirairi style: entrance on the non-gabled side
• 
  The typical shape of the back of a Hiyoshi-zukuri roof
• 
  A hokora
• 
  Ōtori-zukuri
• 
  Ōtori Taisha's honden
• 
  Some setsumatsusha
• 
  Shinmei-zukuri
• 
  Sumiyoshi-zukuri
• 
  Taisha-zukuri,

  Izumo Taisha

See also

• List of Shinto shrines in Japan
• Glossary of Shinto

Notes

1. ^ Presently only the Ise Grand Shrine is being rebuilt every 20 years.
2. ^ The term setsumatsusha is the combination of the two terms sessha and massha.
3. Lotus Sūtra
   Hall. A hall whose layout allows walking around a statue for meditation
4. ^ A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope.
5. ^ A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall enclosed between the edges of a sloping roof.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} The History of Shrines, Encyclopedia of Shinto, retrieved on June 10, 2008
2. ^ Mark Teeuwen in Breen and Teeuwen (2000:95-96)
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Young & Young 2007, p. 50
4. ^ ^{a b c} Fletcher & Cruickshank 1996, p. 724
5. ^ ^{a b} Nishi & Hozumi 1996, p. 40
6. ^ ^{a b} Kishida 2008, p. 33
7. ^ Kishida 2008, p. 34
8. ^ Kishida 2008, p. 35
9. ^ Kishida 2008, p. 126
10. ^ Nishi & Hozumi 1996, p. 41
11. ^ Kuroda 2005
12. ^ ^{a b c} Encyclopedia of Shinto Torii, accessed on December 15, 2009
13. ^ ^{a b} JAANUS, Torii accessed on December 12, 2009
14. ^ ^{a b c} Iwanami Kōjien (広辞苑) Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version.
15. ^ ^{a b} JAANUS, Komainu, accessed on November 8, 2009
16. ^ JAANUS, A un, accessed on November 8, 2009
17. ^ Mori, Mizue (2005-06-02). "Haiden". Encyclopedia of Shinto (β1.3 ed.). Tokyo: Kokugakuin University. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
18. JAANUS - Japanese Architecture and Art Net User System
    . Retrieved 2009-11-08.
19. JAANUS
    , accessed on November 17, 2009
20. ^ Shinden, Encyclopædia Britannica
21. ^ ^{a b} Encyclopedia of Shinto, Hokora. Accessed on December 14, 2009
22. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Sessha - Massha" (in Japanese). Yahoo! Japan. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
23. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} Encyclopedia of Shinto,History and Typology of Shrine Architecture, accessed on November 29, 2009
24. ^ ^{a b} JAANUS, Nagare-zukuri, accessed on December 1, 2009
25. ^ ^{a b} JAANUS, Kasuga-zukuri, accessed on December 1, 2009
26. Ōsaki Hachiman Shrine. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
27. ^ ^{a b c d} JAANUS, Hachiman-zukuri accessed on December 1, 2009
28. ^ JAANUS, Hie-zukuri, accessed on December 1, 2009
29. ^ ^{a b c} JAANUS, Irimoya-zukuri, accessed on December 1, 2009
30. ^ Iwanami Nihonshi Jiten (岩波日本史辞典), CD-Rom Version. Iwanami Shoten, 1999-2001.
31. ^ ^{a b c d} Encyclopedia of Shinto, Gongen-zukuri accessed on December 2, 2009
32. ^ Jaanus, Gongen-zukuri, accessed on December 5, 2009
33. ^ JAANUS, Misedana-zukuri, accessed on December 1, 2009.
34. ^ ^{a b c} JAANUS, Ootori-zukuri, accessed on December 1, 2009
35. ^ ^{a b} JAANUS, Shinmei-zukuri accessed on December 1, 2009
36. ^ Jinja Kenchiku, Shogakukan Nihon Daihyakka Zensho, accessed on November 29, 2009
37. ^ ^{a b c} JAANUS, Sumiyoshi-zukuri, accessed on December 1, 2009
38. ^ JAANUS, Taisha-zukuri, accessed on December 1, 2009

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