BACKGROUND JAPAN & KOREA

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Background Pre-colonial

Japan

Japan is composed of a chain of islands.

The four main island of Hokkaido, Honshu,
Shikoku, and Kyushu.
Geologically, Japan is divided into two
major areas, north-east and south-west.
Volcanic eruptions and moderate to severe
seismic disturbances are common in Japan
and relate to the continuing crustal
instability.
Traditional Japanese architecture is of
timber construction and uses only postand-lintel system.
Has traditionally been typified by wooden
structures, elevated slightly off the ground,
with tiled or thatched roofs.
Sliding doors (fusuma) 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.
Much in the traditional architecture of
Japan is not native, but was imported from
China and other Asian cultures over the
centuries.

Japanese traditional architecture and its

history are as a consequence dominated
by Chinese and Asian techniques and
styles on one side, and by Japanese
original variations on those themes on the
other.[2]

Partly due also to the variety of climates in

Japan and the millennium encompassed between the first
cultural import and the last, the result is extremely
heterogeneous, but several practically universal features can

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nonetheless be found. First of all is the choice of materials,

always wood in various forms (planks, straw, tree bark, paper,
etc.) for almost all structures. Unlike both
Western and some Chinese architecture,
the use of stone is avoided except for
certain specific uses, for example
temple podia and pagoda foundations.
The roof is the most visually impressive
component, often constituting half the size
of the whole edifice.[2] The slightly
curved eaves extend far beyond the walls,
covering verandas, and their weight must
therefore be supported by complex bracket
systems called toky, in the case of temples
and shrines. Simpler solutions are adopted in
domestic structures. The oversize eaves give
the interior a characteristic dimness, which
contributes to the building's atmosphere.
Inner space divisions are fluid, and room size
can be modified through the use of screens or
movable paper walls. The separation between
inside and outside is itself in some measure not
absolute as entire walls can be removed,
opening a residence or temple to visitors.
Structures are therefore made to a certain
extent part of their environment. Care is taken
to blend the edifice into the surrounding
natural environment.

The use of construction modules keeps

proportions between different parts of the
edifice constant, preserving its overall
harmony.[2]

Building Techniques and Processes

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Japan

The basic plan consist of a central core ( moya ) with

a one bay deep aisle like addition ( hisashi ) placed on
one, two, three or four sides.
Bracket complexes (tokyo, kumimono), ranging from a single boat
shaped bracket arm to six stepped complexes.
The hidden roof (noyane), an ingenious system
using two sets of rafters, came into universal use
in the early Heian period.

Eaves are either single, kayaoi or double, kio.

Rafters (taruki) are usually set in parallel rows
and continue in shortened lengths when attached
to the hip rafters at the corner of the hip and
gable roofs.
Under the eaves there are shallow latticed
ceiling, latticed ceiling with curved ribs (shirin), a
line of curved ribs in parallel arrangement, or the
last plus another crossed set of curved ribs,
forcing a lozenge pattern.
The four roof type are gable (kirizuma-yane),
hipped (yosemune-yane) pyramidal (hogyoyane), and hip and gable combined (irimoyayane).
Kirizuma-yane- One of the simplest types of roof
with both sides spreading outward at an angle
from the ridge and terminating with their eaves
extending beyond the walls.
Yosemune-yane A hipped roof. A roof that

descends from the ridge on four sides of a

rectangular building.
Hogyo-yane - A pyramidal style of roof

constructed over a square building. Sometimes

called the four-part style or the square style.
Irimoya-yane - A hip-and-gable roof construction

or a building with this roof construction. A gable

type roof has a ridge and gable pediments on
the upper part and a hipped roof on the four
sides on the lower part.

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Roofing materials include tile (kawarabuki),

cypress bark (hiwadabuki) , multi layered, thinly
cut
Wood shingles (kokerabuki) and, recently,
copper sheeting over a timber base (dobanbuki).
Except for metal spikes driven through the
rafters to secure them to the purlins, all other
members were assembled by various jointing
techniques including the use of dowels.

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