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Displaying 101 - 197 of 197
Title Contains Image(s) Description Keywords
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
Mandaradō 曼荼羅堂 ✓

Also Taimadera *Hondō 当麻寺本堂. Mandaradō literally means a hall…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
mandokoro 政所

The administrative offices housed in the refectory of an ancient temple. During the Heian period, and continuing through the…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Masodō 媽姐堂 ✓

1 A Chinese temple Sōfukuji 崇福寺 in Nagasaki prefecture, called Masodō, which enshrines a deity called…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
menzō 眠蔵

Also mendō 眠堂. Sleeping quarters for the head priest behind the main room at a subsidiary Zen temple *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
midō 御堂

1 Another name for a temple called Hōjōji 法成寺, built at the end of the tenth to beginning of the 11th…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
mieidō 御影堂 ✓

Lit. "image hall." Also called eidō 影堂, goeidō or goedō 御影堂. A temple hall explicitly assigned to…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
mirokudō 弥勒堂

A Buddhist hall dedicated to *Miroku 弥勒 (Sk: Maitreya), the compassionate bodhisattva of…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
moji-etō 文字絵塔

Sutras written in such a way that the characters form the image of a pagoda. One of the two methods is called moji…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures, Art History, Painting
momitō 籾塔

Lit. "unhulled rice pagoda." A small wooden votive pagoda carved with a knife. It is related to *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
monbansho 門番所

The quarters for the caretaker of the main gate of a Japanese temple. These may be attached to or near the main gate.

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Monjudō 文殊堂

A small Buddhist hall dedicated to the Bodhisattva of wisdom *Monju 文殊 (Sk. Manjusri) who usually is…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
muhōtō 無縫塔 ✓

Also written 無方塔. Also *kaisantō 開山塔 or *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
muryōjuin 無量寿院

1 A name given to the *amidadō 阿弥陀堂, a temple hall dedicated…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Nageiredō 投入堂 ✓

Also once known as Zaōdō 蔵王堂. The Nageiredō is a small building, constructed in the overhang style kake-zukuri 懸造,…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
naidō 内堂

Buddhist priests' living quarters. Higher-ranking priests had two rooms one behind the other. The inner room was called the…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
nanto shichidaiji 南都七大寺

Lit. "southern capital seven great temples." A generic expression in use by the 8th century referring to the seven great…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
narabidō 双堂 ✓

Also read sōdō. Twin buildings in the grounds of a Japanese temple that are of equal length, but not necessarily of…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
narabigura 双倉 ✓

Also read sōsō. Lit. "twin storehouses." Two storehouses of the same size placed so that the space between was the…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
nenbutsudō 念仏堂 ✓

A hall within the precinct of a Buddhist temple used for the purpose of training Buddhist monks to meditate on and recite…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Nigatsudō 二月堂 ✓

Lit. "second month hall." A temple widely known for its famous ancient festival called omizutori お水取り in March…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
nijū butsudō 二重仏堂

A term that can be applied to any temple or shrine building etc., which has either a double roof, a skirting *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
nikairō 二階廊

A second story corridor. A corridor of this type is thought to have first existed at Tōfukuji 東福寺, in Kyoto established in…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
niōdō 二王堂

A building or often a gate that enshrines the two guardian deities, protectors of Buddhism. They are generally placed at the…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
nishimuro 西室

West dormitory. In the 7th and 8th centuries, some temples had monk's quarters to the west of the lecture hall as well as…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
nōkotsudō 納骨堂

1 A hall where cinerary urns are stored and human ashes are kept.
2 A building to house…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
nōsashōtō 能作生塔

A miniature pagoda in a bowl or rotund bottle shape. The pagoda is made of gilt bronze *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
ōbaku kenchiku 黄檗建築

Architecture introduced at temples of the Ōbaku 黄檗 sect, in the Edo period. This sect is one of the three Zen 禅 sects. The…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Ōkakudai 黄鶴台

A sukiya style *sukiya-zukuri 数寄屋造 bathhouse, yokushitsu…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
oku-no-in 奥の院

A structure named for its location behind the main hall of a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine. Sometimes it is a…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Onrindō 園林堂

A small, 2 × 2 1/2 bay private Buddhist hall (1685?) at Katsura Rikyū 桂離宮, Kyoto. The hall has a tiled roof *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
ōyuya 大湯屋 ✓

Also called yuya 湯屋, yokushitsu 浴室, onshitsu 温室. A bathhouse. Traditionally, a separate…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
raidō 礼堂

Also called raihaidō 礼拝堂. A worship hall. When Buddhist temples were constructed during the 7th-8th century,…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
rantō 卵塔

A stone pagoda with an egg-shaped main body placed directly on a base. It differs from the *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
rinzō 輪蔵

Also called kaiten rinzō 回転輪蔵. Octagonal sutra storage shelves that revolve around a central pillar, which acts as…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
rokkaku endō 六角円堂 ✓

Also rokkakudō 六角堂. A hexagonal building of relatively small scale found at some temples. Like octagonal halls…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
rokkaku sanjū-no-tō 六角三重塔

A type of three-storied, hexagonal pagoda made in relief on a copper plate in accordance with an explanation found in the…

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
tahōtō 多宝塔 ✓

A 2-storied pagoda that developed from the circular, roofed one called *hōtō 宝塔…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
taibō 大房

Also pronounced daibō. A large room 6.7 m wide and 12.7 m deep, constructed in a style customary from about the mid…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
taishidō 太子堂

A hall either dedicated to Shōtoku Taishi 聖徳太子 (ca. 574-622), the second son of Emperor Yōmei 用明 (r. 585-87), or a building…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
tanrō 単廊

A single corridor that is 182 cm wide, commonly found in temples. Some shrines have double corridors *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
tasōtō 多層塔 ✓

Also called tajūtō 多重塔. A generic term for pagodas that are from three to thirteen stories. An even number of…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
tatchū 塔頭

Also written 塔中. A simple building containing a pagoda that enshrined the ashes of a founder or head priest of a Zen 禅…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Tatekaketō 建掛塔

Lit. "under construction pagoda." A pagoda at Kanshinji 観心寺 in Osaka that has only its first story. Kusunoki Masashige 楠木正成…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
tō 塔

Also called tōba 塔婆, sotoba 卒都婆 or *tasōtō 多層塔 (many-layered…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Tōgudō 東求堂

Lit. "east seeking hall." A small building at Jishōji 慈照寺, also popularly known as Ginkakuji 銀閣寺 (1485), Kyoto, built by…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
tōkondō 東金堂

Also originally called higashi butsuden'in 東仏殿院. A worship hall placed to the east of the pagoda *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
tōshin 塔身

The framework of a pagoda *tō 塔, excluding the roof *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
tōsu 東司 ✓

Also read tōshi. Originally tōsu was the god of the latrine who was also called fujō kongō…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
tōtō 東塔

Lit. "east pagoda." A pagoda located toward the front and on the east side of a temple's precinct grounds. When there are…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
tsujidō 辻堂

Lit. "cross roads hall." A small Buddhist structure erected at the main intersection of a village, along a village road, or…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Tsumamuro 妻室 ✓

The dormitory for ordinary attendant monks at Hōryūji 法隆寺 in Nara. The present Tsumamuro was constructed in the Heian period…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
uganju 拝所

An open site, generally in Okinawa, devoid of any kind of structure, from where the gods are worshipped. Most sites are…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
uwaya 上家

A temporary roof or simple structure erected over a building that is being dismantled for repairs or reconstruction. Modern…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
wakijin 脇陣

Side sanctuary. Areas beside the main hall *hondō 本堂 of a Buddhist…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
yakimono-no-tō 焼物の塔

A bisque ware or unglazed pagoda. Plain, unglazed small pagodas are called deitō 泥塔, meaning mud pagodas.…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
yakushidō 薬師堂 ✓

A Buddhist temple hall housing a statue of *Yakushi 薬師 (Sk: Bhaisajyaguru), the Buddha…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
yokurō 翼廊 ✓

Lit. "wing corridors." A corridor that extends outward from the side or rear of a building. Examples: Byōdōin *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
yugitō 瑜祇塔

Lit. "jewel, prayer, pagoda."
Also called gohō hatchū 五峯八柱, lit. "five peaks, eight pillars." A circular…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Yumedono 夢殿

Lit. "Hall of Dreams." A large octagonal hall *hakkakudō 八角堂, in the…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Zendō 禅堂 ✓

Also called *sōdō 僧堂; sometimes *masodō…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
zenpai 前拝

Old name kizahashi 階 means steps (see *hashi 階). The front steps…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Zenshitsu 禅室

Sometimes an alternative *Zendō 禅堂.

1 A room for…

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