Japanese civilization
- 1. JAPANESE CIVILIZATION THE LAND OF RISING SUN
- 2. GEOGRAPHIC GEOLOGIC CLIMATIC RELIGIOUS SOCIAL & HISTORIC • The Japanese arrived in the main land asia in 1st century BC. • Japan lies in the east coast of asia • It is covered by pacific ocean on eastern coast. • It has a number of natural harbours. • Japan lies in the earthquake belt, thus influencing the building development. • 3/4th of japan is covered with vegetation and forest. • Bamboo is available in plenty, thus used widely in buildings. • Stone is used for substructure and timber is used for superstructur e. • Temperate climate. • Rains are heavy, so steep roofs with projecting eaves are common to protect the buildings from sun or rain. • Shintoism declined after introduction of Buddhism in 6th century through korea. • Korea remained a bridge between japan and china for trading, thus Buddhism spread rapidly. • Shintoism is based on nature worship. It isa set of customs or rituals. • Temples are the places of worship and the followers approach them through Torii. • Most important temple is of the Sun Goddess at Ise. • Homes have small shirines which contains the tablets bearing names of their ancestors. • Japanese first migrated from the Kyushu up the Inland Sea to the plain of Yamato. • After a series a war with another clan Inzumo, they established their rule. • Emperor Jimmu united Japan inn 660 BC, an received the title Mikado (the celestial King). • Early history is obscure, the first authentic account available is of 6th century AD from Japanese chronicles. • Due to presence of heavy religious influence, 400 Buddhist temples were constructed in 600 AD. • Under empress Gemmyo, Nara was proclaimed as the capital of the government. Seven temples, a palace with nine gates were constructed in 710 AD. • The capital was shifted to Kyoto in 794 where architecture made rapid progress. • Mirrors, coins, bronze works came from china in 7th century from the Korean peninsula. • In 1543 the Japanese were introduced to western culture and in 1549 to Christianity. • Later japan invaded korea and went to isolationism for 200 years. • Japan joined with alliance with Germany against wars with china and Russia. FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT
- 3. The main religion in Japan is Buddhism.
- 4. CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE • The architecture of Japan was derived from China, but maintained its own special characteristics of lightness as delicacy. • Refinement in Japanese architecture is combined with carving and decoration which is noticeable in timber construction. • Flat terrace roof that are dominant to form contrast from Middle-east and India. • 'Iramoya gable' at the upper part of roof while the lower part of roof is in a hipped form. • Roof covering can be thatch, shingles or tiles. • Column that found in temples or gateway is followed from Chinese form. • 'Ken' is known as standard measurement of intercolumniation. • Temples are characterized by Torii, formed by two upright posts connected to two or more horizontal trails. • Houses of japan have a vestibule, verandah, living room, dining room, guest room with the necessary ‘tokonama’ a raised decorative corner to display flowers and art. • There are no bedrooms. Any room can be converted to bedroom by spreading floor mats or ‘tatami’ • Light movable sliding doors with Shoji (partitions made of translucent paper screens) are common. IRAMOYA GABLE
- 5. • Maximum flexibility is planning is the main feature of Japanese houses. • Size of room is related to the floor mats 6x3 sq.ft. • The houses have cheerful character on account of skill in using materials like beautiful lanterns, beautiful flower arrangements. • House walls are constructed with wood or stout paper filling to avoid heavy causalities in case of earthquake. • Windows are decorated with timber trellis. • The coloums have compound bracket to support the roof. They come in various sizes like square, round, octagonal etc. • • 'Yariganna' is used to split timber and beautify it. • Curved panels of tori, projecting eaves of the roofs are the objects of ornamentation. The ends of the projecting timber are enriched with ornamental brass caps. • Wall surfaces are decorated with scenes, flowers and birds ROOFS COVERED WITH SINGLES/TILES YARIGANA
- 6. • The first millennium of the Neolithic period coincided with a global climatic warming that reached its peak between the years 8000 and 4000 BC. • In Japan, this led to the rise in sea levels that covered the last land bridges connecting the island with the Asian continent, as well as the enrichment of marine fauna and the growth of new forests. • This was the setting in which the Jomon period flourished in its early stages. • The earliest pieces of pottery known in Japan date back to 10,000 BC and some experts claim they could be the oldest in the world. • At the beginning of this period, the population was nomadic and hunter-gathering for the most part and located in coastal regions. • The abundance of fish, bivalves and marine mammals in their diet led to huge mounds of seafood shells, which are the first source of archaeological information about these people. • They also hunted deer and wild boar and had cutting tools made of stone, as well as pieces of corded pottery (in fact, jomon means “a straw-rope pattern”). • Settlements moved inland in the middle of the Jomon period (ca. 3500 BC – 2000 BC). • In this era, a decline in sea levels may have decimated marine fauna or increased confidence in agriculture as a source of food; this seems to be implied by the abundance of grindstones, lidded earthenware jars, and other objects related to cultivation. • The late Jomon period, which began at around 2000 BC, is marked by the resurgence of fishing in the Pacific coastal region. JOMON PERIOD (CA. 10,000 – 300 BC)
- 7. JOMON DWELLING CHARACTERISTICS • Huts built by digging as deep as 2 - 3 feet deep. • Trees used as pillars to support roof. • Roof is made of long grass or skins of wood. • Shape like tent with small ridge on the roof for ventilation. • Later houses had square or rectangular floors with rounded corners. • The roofs, supported by five or six posts and a central pillar, were thatched with kaya (miscanthus) grass that helped drain off rainwater into the surrounding ditches.
- 8. • This period, which is named after an archaeological site near the University of Tokyo, is characterized by a marked cultural transition driven by migrations from the rice- cultivating regions of Asia. • Coming from Korea and, with all possibility, from Okinawa, immigration took place across northern Kyushu from around 300 BC, and in under 600 years, the hunter- gatherer communities of Japan drifted towards a sedentary society based on the cultivation of rice. • The growth of these autonomous but closely related settlements was so rapid in Kyushu, the archipelago’s southernmost island, and western Honshu that by about 100 AD, only northern Honshu and the island of Hokkaido were left out of this new development. YAYOI PERIOD (CA. 300 BC – 300 AD)
- 9. YAYOI CHARACTERISTIC •Yayoi architecture is similar to architecture of South East Asia where buildings are raise up from ground. •Used gable roof •The roof is over a wattle screen wall surrounded by a damp excluding ditch
- 10. • The construction of large funerary tombs/tumuli made from earth and stone in some coastal areas of Kyushu and along the whole coast of the Inner Sea marked the end of the Yayoi culture. • These tombs were decorated with human figures and animals made of hollow clay, called haniwa, as well as scale models of houses that possibly represented the belongings of deceased leaders. • There was a rapid development of political and social institutions. The various population centers called themselves “countries” or “kingdoms” and had a characteristic social hierarchy, subject to the growing political influence of the Yamato plain region, in which Osaka and Nara are located today. • The imperial dynasty, also called the Yamato dynasty, was almost certainly established by the most powerful family clans (uji) that had already formed at the end of the Yayoi period. • The power of one of the clans, the Soga, was accentuated by its exclusive control over the imperial treasury and grain reserves, as well as its monopolistic role as the patron of new knowledge from the continent. • Its consolidation as a political power was consummated with a new monopoly: only the daughters of the Soga clan were eligible as imperial consorts. KOFUN PERIOD (CA. 300 – 710)
- 11. JAPAN SHRINES 1. Torii – Shinto gate 2. Stone stairs 3. Sandō – the approach to the shrine 4. Chōzuya or temizuya – purification font to cleanse one’s hands and mouth 5. Tōrō – decorative stone lanterns 6. Kagura-den – building dedicated to Noh or the sacred kagura dance 7. Shamusho – the shrine’s administrative office 8. Ema – wooden plaques bearing prayers or wishes 9. Sessha/massha – small auxiliary shrines 10. Komainu – the so-called “lion dogs”, guardians of the shrine 11. Haiden – oratory or hall of worship 12. Tamagaki – fence surrounding the honden 13. Honden – main hall, enshrining the kami
- 13. • Temples came along with the import of Buddhism from China around the 6th century. At first, temples resembled those in China closely in features, such as having wide courtyards and symmetrical layouts. Some of the oldest surviving temple buildings exhibiting these features can be found in Nara, in particular at Horyuji (the world's oldest wooden structure), Todaiji (the world's largest wooden structure), Yakushiji and Kofukuji. • Asukadera, located about 25 kilometres south of Nara City, is considered the oldest Buddhist institution in Japan. • As time passed, temples were increasingly designed to suit local tastes. Newly introduced sects from the mainland contributed to new temple architecture styles. Temples began to exhibit less symmetrical features, and many started to incorporate gardens in their compounds. Temples were also founded in more remote places and in the mountains, which had more varied layouts owing to complex topographies. Like shrines, temples buildings were also lost over time, and the ones that exist across the country today are mostly a few centuries old