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JAANUS

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Displaying 1 - 61 of 61
Title Contains Image(s) Description Keywords
kagariya 篝屋

Guardhouses for soldiers placed at street corners in Kyoto and Kamakura during the Kamakura period. The earliest known …

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kaidan'in 戒壇院 ✓

A Tendai 天台 sect building that contains an ordination platform used exclusively for the ceremony to impart the Buddhist…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kaidan 戒壇 A platform or dais used for the Buddhist ordination ceremony.
Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kairō 回廊 ✓

Also written 廻廊; also called bu 廡, sōrō 走廊 or *horō 歩廊. Single-…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kaisandō 開山堂 ✓

A hall that enshrines a statue, portrait or memorial tablet of the founder of a temple or the founder of a particular…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kaisantō 開山塔

Lit. founder's pagoda. A rare type of wooden pagoda *hōtō 宝塔, constructed…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kaisho 会所

1 A meeting place. Originally specified as a place in a shinden style mansion *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Kami-no-midō 上御堂

Lit. Upper honorable hall. A Buddhist image hall at Hōryūji 法隆寺 (1318) in Nara, rebuilt long after the original hall, built…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Kangakuin 勧学院

Also omotemon 表門. The front gate of Shūgenji 宗源寺 a subsidiary temple of Hōryūji 法隆寺. It serves as a place for study…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kanjōdō 潅頂堂

Also called kanjōin 潅頂院. The hall used to conduct the ceremony to confer the basic precepts and mystic teachings of…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kannondō 観音堂 ✓

A Buddhist temple hall dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy *Kannon 観音. Fukushima…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kansuryō 監寺寮

One of the administration offices within the priests' living quarters *kuri 庫裡,…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kasatōba 笠塔婆 ✓

Also called kasasotōba 笠卒都婆. A memorial or grave stone. The most common has a square shaft *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Keikyūin 桂宮院

Lit. cinnamon hall. An octagonal main hall, Hondō 本堂, of the subsidiary temple, Keikyūin at Kōryūji 広隆寺 (1251…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kōdō 講堂

1 Lecture hall in a Buddhist temple. In the Nara and Heian periods, it was one of the principal buildings…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kōfūzō 綱封蔵 ✓

Also called *narabigura 双倉 or twin storehouses. A large…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kondō 金堂 ✓

Lit. golden hall. The name given to the principal hall housing the most sacred images at Buddhist temples from the Asuka…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Konjikidō 金色堂

Also called Hikaridō 光堂 or Konjikiin 金色院. Lit. Gold colored hall. A small Buddhist edifice at…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Konpon chūdō 根本中堂

Lit. original central hall. The main hall, Kondō 金堂 of Enryakuji 延暦寺 (1640), Shiga Prefecture. A large single storied…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
konrō 軒廊

Lit. eave corridor. A roofed corridor with open sides. A connecting corridor between two buildings.

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
korō 鼓楼 ✓

A small, two-storied structure *rō-zukuri 楼造, in which a drum is suspended in…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kui 杭

Also kigui 木杭. Pile. A wooden stake or post driven into the ground. Closely placed round wooden posts, often shaved…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kujū-no-tō 九重塔

Also pronounced kyūjū-no-tō. A 9-storied pagoda. Kudaradaiji 百済大寺 (6th-7th century) in Nara, and Hōshōji 法勝寺 (Heian…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kunisakitō 国東塔

A single-storied, circular pagoda with a pyramidal roof. A type of *hōtō…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kuri 庫裡

1 Aiso written 庫裏. A structure in the precincts of a temple originally associated primarily with food…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kurodo-no-gosho 黒戸の御所

Also abbreviated to kurodo 黒戸. Lit. black door of the palace. A long narrow structure that was used for private…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kuyōtō 供養塔

A memorial pagoda, for which there is no particular shape or size. Kuyōtō is an offering of worldly goods such…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kyakuden 客殿

Lit. guest hall. A building constructed in one of three residential styles: *shoin-…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kyōzō 経蔵 ✓

Also called kyōko 経庫, kyōdō 経堂, zōden 蔵殿. A repository and storehouse for sutras, or sacred books…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Saiendō 西円堂 ✓

An octagonal hall at Hōryūji 法隆寺, Nara, which was destroyed by a typhoon in 1050. The structure was rebuilt in 1250. It is…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
saikondō 西金堂

An image hall *kondō 金堂 situated to the west of a pagoda in temple grounds.…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sangen-ikko 三間一戸 ✓

A 3 x 2 bay gate, often 8-legged style *hakkyakumon 八脚門, with entrance…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sangendō 三間堂 ✓

A building with 3 bays on all four sides, commonly written 3 × 3 bays. The result is usually a square building. However,…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sanjū-no-tō 三重塔

Three-storied pagodas, most of which are made of wood, but a small percentage are made of stone. See *…

Architecture, Buildings, Sculpture
sanmaidō 三昧堂

Also called nenbutsu sanmaidō 念仏三昧堂. Nenbutsu 念仏 prayers are recited, to obtain unity with *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sanmen sōbō 三面僧房

Priest and monk dormitories constructed to the north, east and west of the lecture hall *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sanrō 山廊 ✓

Also kirō 機廊. Small, single-storied, detached buildings on temple grounds constructed on each side of a two-…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sayadō 鞘堂

Also ōidō 覆堂, ōiya 覆屋 or tōdō 套堂. Lit. "sheath hall." A building constructed over a shrine or…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sazaedō 栄螺堂 ✓

Also called sansōdō or sasaidō 三匝堂. An hexagonal Buddhist hall constructed with two internal, circuitous…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sekidō 石幢

Lit. "stone flag." A type of stone pagoda with a hexagonal or octagonal base, a banner-shaped shaft, dōshin 幢身, a…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sekitō 石塔 ✓

Also read ishitō. A generic term for pagodas or stupas made of stone. It includes multiple-storied stone pagodas…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sen-in 賤院

Also written 賎院. The quarters where the lowliest serfs lived in a Buddhist temple. In ancient Japan, these people were…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
shakadō 釈迦堂 ✓

A hall in which a statue of the historical Buddha *Shaka 釈迦, born in either the mid-6th or mid-…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
shariden 舎利殿 ✓

A square reliquary hall, used to enshrine the relics of Buddha, called *shari 舎利…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sharitō 舎利塔

A stupa-shaped container for relics *shari 舎利 that may itself be set within a small shrine …

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
shi-in 子院

A subsidiary temple belonging to the main temple and serving as the founder's mausoleum. This arrangement is most frequently…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
shichidō garan 七堂伽藍

The seven principal buildings considered necessary for a Buddhist temple from the 7-12th century. They include: the main…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
shidō 祠堂

A mortuary hall. One example is the rear part of the *Kaisandō 開山堂 at Eihōji…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
shindō 新堂

Lit. "new hall." Several of Japan's temple complexes include a building known as shindō. One of the most famous is…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Shingon-in 真言院

Also called Shingondō 真言堂, Shūhōin 修法院 or Mandara dōjō 曼荼羅道場. Lit. "the mantra hall." A hall…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
shisōbō 私僧房

A private residence for high-ranking priests within the confines of a Buddhist temple. During the Heian period, this type of…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
shitagoya 下小屋

A temporary shed used by carpenters, stone masons, and plasterers to prepare structural members for a building. Often parts…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
shōden 正殿

Also pronounced seiden.

1 The center building of a palace, also called omotegoten…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
shōdō 正堂

Also seidō.

1 The fare hall or worshipper's hall of a temple, in contrast to the rear hall…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
shōrō 鐘楼 ✓

Also called shūrō; kanetsukidō 鐘突堂, lit. "bell hitting hall"; and tsuriganedō 釣鐘堂, belfry. A…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Shōryōin 聖霊院 ✓

A hall dedicated to the soul of Shōtoku Taishi (see *Shōtoku Taishi-zō 聖徳太子像) at…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Shōsōin 正倉院

Also called Sōen-in 倉垣院. A treasure storehouse *hōko 宝庫 with a raised floor at…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sōbō 僧房 ✓

Also written 僧坊. Buddhist priests', monks' or nuns' living quarters in the 7th-8th century. One of the seven buildings…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sōdō 僧堂

A large hall at a Zen temple. It was divided into two parts. The front part, called the *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
soshidō 祖師堂

A hall dedicated to the founder of a temple, especially at Zen 禅 temples.

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
sōtō 層塔

A generic name for a pagoda (Sk: stupa) which has several roofs. Invariably they have an odd number of roofs. Most…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures

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JAANUS is the on-line Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology compiled by Dr. Mary Neighbour Parent.

Originally built by the Atsumi International Scholarship Foundation, it is now hosted and maintained by the Media Center for Art History at Columbia University