Any civilization can be observed and even judged through any of a number of its manifestations: food, literature, political history, etc. Perhaps none are more revealing, however, than a nation's architectural history. Through it one can observe the ritual, public, private, political, and social lives of the people of a civilization. Unfortunately, Architecture is a useful tool for two reasons that also make its study comparatively difficult: architecture is best studied through the often haphazard method of observation of the buildings that happen to remain standing at the time of the observation and architects continually blend elements of the past into their works.

As the question of the meaning of Japanese architecture en masse is too large of an issue to tackle in a paper such as this, I will be focusing specifically on Japanese Ritual Architecture, namely the evolution of Buddhist Architecture during its stages of major change from the Asuka to Kamakura periods. Since architecture is a continual conglomeration of all of the architecture that has proceeded it, it is necessary to discuss it in terms of how certain elements were perceived at the time of their use more than the actual incidence of there use in comparison to other elements. For example, considerable discussion will be given to the topic of the Pagoda in Japanese temple design. While Pagoda construction continues from the Asuka period until the present day, the use of that element and the meaning that it held on the minds of the people have changed radically. The reader should keep this in mind when examining the graph below (figure 1), which represents an attempt to chart the importance that certain elements had to the people building temples in various eras, not an effort to statistically or methodically chart the incidence of various elements.

Shinto Architecture

Before beginning an earnest investigation into the early evolution of temple architecture it seems appropriate to briefly out line architectural styles used in Shinto Shrine construction. From the Kofun era on, shrines to the Shinto Kami have been constructed throughout Japan along basically similar lines. Apart from the varied use of symmetry (or lack thereof) and minor changes in Torii design or coloration, Shinto architecture is comparatively constant. For the purposes of this paper, we will look primarily at the Grand Shrine of Ise, shrine of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, mythological ancestor of the Japanese Imperial Family.

Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of Shinto architecture, apart from the omnipresent Torii gate, is the buildings being raised above the ground. This feature is undoubtedly taken from Yamato and Kofun era construction methods in which more important buildings were built elevated for preservation. Specifically, the first change from pit-dwelling style building to raised construction was for the purpose of making grain storage facilities. This feature can be observed all the way from the Grand Shrines of Ise and Izumo through Buddhist buildings such as the Soshoin at Todaiji and, in an interesting variation, at the Heian-period Itsukushima Shrine at Miyajima.

While it was not retained as an identifying feature of Shinto Architecture, the Grand Shrine of Ise is also notable for its symmetrical layout. The subsidiary buildings are scattered around generally according to the lay of the land, but the inner shrine to Amaterasu herself is built along a East-West axis with the primary building at the center and two secondary buildings flanking it to the right an left of the central axis. A stage/pavilion building used for ceremonies in the case of the rain is the only structure in the inner compound not aligned along the axis or mirrored perfectly on the other side. Likewise, this mirroring is echoed in the neighboring space cleared out and left ready for the successive periodic rebuilding of the Shrine. Since all buildings, structures, even water fountains in the greater complex share this trait a symmetry of sorts is observable throughout the Shrine.

One feature singular to the Ise and Izumo shrines is the decorative ridgepoles and filials which designated it as a ritual building (at the time, these features were legally restricted to Imperial and Shinto buildings). Likewise, the use of plain, unfinished wood throughout the complex is not found elsewhere, probably due to the costs involved in the periodic rebuilding that is necessitated by not preserving the wood through some sort of finishing process.

Some of these features will be more utilized than others at various points in Buddhist architecture, but shrines typically tend to take on Buddhist designs than the reverse. In the Edo period, as Shintoism and Buddhism become closer and closer associated with one another the architectural similarities between the two will also steadily increase, but generally toward the Buddhist designs imported from the Asian Continent beginning in the Asuka period.

Early Buddhist Architecture: the PagodaPeriod

Todaiji, while destroyed and rebuilt more than once since its original construction in the eighth century, still provides us with the best example of Nara-period temple construction. Moreover, modern historians have a fairly certain idea of what the original plan resembled and can thus discuss the temple in those terms. Certainly, the overriding feature of Todaiji (and, in fact, the entire Nara plan) is Confucianism. A strict symmetry along a North-South axis was followed throughout the plan of both the temple and its city. This should not, however, be seen as a lack of Buddhist thought. Rather, Confucianism and Buddhism were brought to Japan so intertwined and blended that the two were nearly inextricable from one another for centuries.

A second distinguishing characteristic of Todaiji would have to be the integral use of Pagodas. Built to house relics of the Buddha, two Pagodas flanked the walk approaching the main building. Apart from the central temple itself, they are clearly the most prominent structures in the complex, built as they were long before the impressive walls and gates were added in the Kamakura period. Other temples of the Nara period have a single pagoda along its central axis, but the significance remains: the pagoda supposedly housed a relic of the Buddha himself and was thus an absolutely vital part of the temple complex.

Middle Buddhist Architecture: the Mandala Period

Even Toji has only a largely axis-oriented plan with the pagoda and several subsidiary buildings arranged haphazardly to the side. This also brings up the other major change that occurred in Heian-period temple construction: marginalization of the Pagoda. Possibly because of the scarcity of relics from the Buddha's life but more likely because of changes in Buddhist doctrine, pagodas quickly ceased being a signifying temple feature starting in this period. In some cases, such as Toji, the pagoda is pushed off of the central axis (or from a symmetrical dual construction on either side of it) into an unobtrusive corner of the compound. Many temples have no pagoda at all while still others built a pagoda of only one, two, or three stories instead of the traditional five. The pagoda constructed in the mid-Heian period Hosohoji temple was the largest ever built in the world, but almost no new pagodas are built anywhere in Japan after its completion.

One of the most interesting changes in the use of the Pagoda is evident again at the modern Toji. Esoteric Buddhism, imported in the Heian period, led to the Shingon and Tendai sects devoting much of their energies to the construction of various sorts of two and three-dimensional Mandalas, or representations of the structure of the cosmos and the interrelationships of the various spiritual entities which inhabit it. These Mandalas took various shapes, from drawings in the sand to paintings for meditation to physical, 3-dimensional constructions. Such a Mandala occupies the first floor of Toji's pagoda, marginalized though it is in the overall temple complex.

This construction of Mandalas became increasingly important in the Heian period and led to the construction of some temples expressly for the purpose of depicting the realm of the Buddhas. Uji's Byodoin is probably the best extant example of this esoteric temple-design technique. The entire complex is designed as a representation of Amida's realm, from the heart-shaped pond to the "Phoenix Hall." The primary image is surrounded by several smaller boddhisatvas in an unmistakable re-thinking of the two-dimensional Mandala.  This three-dimensional Mandala design can also be impressively seen at Sanjusangendo.

Late Buddhist Architecture: the Sanmon Period

In the early Kamakura period, the famed Zen master Dogen (an early important figure in Japanese Zen) died, passing his Abbotship on to his disciple Gikai. Unsatisfied with the temple architecture evident in Japan and eager to make Zen the significant sect of the Kamakura period and its Samurai leaders, Gikai went to China to observe Chan (Zen) temples. Upon his return two years later, he built Engakuji, first of the five great temples of Kamakura. While Engakuji was supposed to have built upon the ideas of the "original" Zen thinkers in China, modern scholarship has revealed that several vital features such as the bell tower which were intrinsic to Chan temples have never been constructed in Japan. In any case, other new features, especially the large "Sanmon" gates were imported and rose to importance during the Kamakura period. A symbol of the monastic lifestyle of the Zen monk, the Sanmon gates became a new signifier of the Buddhist (or at least Zen) temple. Excellent examples are preserved in the Kamakura Go-Zan or five major temples of Kamakura and at Tofukuji and Nanzenji in Kyoto.

Other significant features of the "Chinese" style include the further de-emphisization of symmetry and North-South axis and the incorporation of art into the building itself. While some temples did continue to group at least their main buildings along a central North-South axis, Nanzenji faces West and Kenchoji at Kamakura has a curved axis. In any case, subsidiary buildings in Zen temple complexes (which are often quite numerous) are placed largely at random around that central axis. As far as peoples thinking goes, these subsidiary buildings, particularly the lavatory, far surpassed their earlier function as a mere means of supporting the more central worship buildings. This change is undoubtedly connected to the importance in Zen of personal meditation and practice amidst the de-emphisization of statuary and worship.

Art, particularly sumie ink painting, reached a period of architectural vitality not previously seen in Japan. While monks had long painted landscapes and/or calligraphy for scrolls to hang in the tokonoma, Kamakura-period architects began including very large-scale paintings of ceilings. One excellent examples of this can be found at Tofukuji where a huge dragon adorns the ceiling of a major worship building.

Later Variations

While new combinations of the above features are continually created, "temple building from Muromachi on presents almost no new phenomenon." This can be said largely because the single most important phenomenon in the post-Kamakura era is not strictly an architectural feature. Gardens had existed on various levels from the beginning of Japanese Buddhist architecture. Todaiji, Toji, Byodoin, and Nanzenji had all been built either in the middle of a park or with a garden inside of them. In the case of Toji and Byodoin, this garden was a part of the depiction of the afterlife. Todaiji and Nanzenji are simply built in wooded areas along the lines of early Shinto Shrine designs. Starting in the Muromachi Period, however, the garden gains a new kind of importance not seen previously

The "Zen Garden" that we think of today was invented during this period, observable in the construction of Konchi-in at Nanzenji. Later, in the Edo period, gardens of this sort would be added into the center of Nanzenji proper, Sanjusangendo, and Tofukuji. The famous garden at Ryoanji would also be constructed and amaze visitors for centuries.

Another important reason why it can fairly be said "temple building from Muromachi on presents almost no new phenomenon" is that significant arhitecture simply stopped being Buddhist. Ginkakuji and Kinkakuji, two of the most important buildings of this period, are not really temples at all but were constructed for the purpose of Emperors who liked to throw tea parties in nice gardens. Just as important buildings would change from private to public in the Meiji Period, they changed from religious to private in the Muromachi Period.

Conclusion

In the case of Japanese ritual architecture, the evolution and changes of building styles over time has no meaning in and of itself but can be used as a method for observing the more important doctrinal changes of the religion over time. That is, by looking at the extant remains of Buddhist temples from various eras we can find out what was happening in Buddhism at the time.

By watching the pagoda move out of the spotlight we can deduce the de-emphisization of the historical Buddha. By studying the design of Byodoin we can more fully understand the beliefs of the Esoteric Buddhists which were rising to preeminence at the time of its construction. By noticing the sudden importance placed on the Sanmon we can perceive the sudden importance of Zen in Japan during the Kamakura Period. And, perhaps, by observing the lack of significant new phenomena after the Muromachi period we can see the beginnings of the slow demise of Buddhism until its post-WWII revival. In this way, architecture can serve as a window into the history of civilization and the religious beliefs that it has held throughout history.