Shoin-zukuri
Encyclopedia
is a style of Japanese residential architecture used in the mansions of the military, temple guest halls, and Zen abbot's quarters of the Azuchi-Momoyama
(1568-1600) and Edo period
s (1600-1868). It forms the basis of today's traditional-style Japanese house. Characteristics of the shoin-zukuri development were the incorporation of square posts and floors completely covered with tatami
. The style takes its name from the shoin
, a term that originally meant a study and a place for lectures on the sūtra
within a temple, but which later came to mean just a drawing room or study.
floors were established in the late Muromachi period
and refined during the ensuing Momoyama period.
Shoin-zukuri, a new architectural style influenced by Zen
Buddhism
, developed during that time from the shinden-zukuri
of the earlier Heian period
's palaces and the subsequent residential style favored by the warrior class during the Kamakura period
. The term , meaning study
or drawing room
has been used to denote reception rooms in residences of the military elite as well as study rooms at monasteries. A shoin has a core area
surrounded by aisles
, and smaller areas separated by fusuma
sliding doors, or shōji
partitions constructed of paper on a wooden frame or wooden equivalents, and . The main reception room is characterized by specific features: a recessed alcove (tokonoma
); staggered shelves; built-in desks; and ornate sliding doors. Generally the reception room is covered with wall-to-wall tatami, has square beveled pillars, a coved
and/or coffered ceiling, and . The entrance hall (genkan) emerged as an element of residential architecture during the Momoyama period. The oldest extant shoin style building is the Tōgu-dō
at Ginkaku-ji
dating from 1485. Other representative examples of early shoin style, also called shuden, include two guest halls at Mii-dera
. In the early Edo period
, shoin-zukuri reached its peak and spread beyond the residences of the military elite. The more formal shoin-style of this period is apparent in the characteristics of Ninomaru Palace at Nijō Castle
as well as the shoin at Nishi Hongan-ji (see photos above).
The simpler style used in the architecture of tea houses
for the tea ceremony developed in parallel with shoin-zukuri. In the 16th century Sen no Rikyū
established dedicated style teahouses characterized by their small size of typically two to eight mat
, the use of natural materials, and rustic appearance. This teahouse style, exemplified by the Joan and Taian teahouses, was influenced by Japanese farmhouse style and the shoin style featuring tatami matted floors, recessed alcoves (tokonoma
) and one or more ante chambers for preparations.
, the features of the shoin and the teahouse styles began to blend. The result was an informal version of the shoin style called . The sukiya-zukuri style has a characteristic decorative alcove and shelf, and utilizes woods such as cedar, pine, hemlock, bamboo, and cypress
, often with rough surfaces including the bark. Compared to the shoin style's, roof eaves in the sukiya style bend downward. While the shoin style was suitable for ceremonial architecture, it became too imposing for residential buildings. Consequently the less formal sukiya style was used for the mansions of the aristocracy and samurai after the beginning of the Edo period.
Azuchi-Momoyama period
The came at the end of the Warring States Period in Japan, when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place. It spans the years from approximately 1573 to 1603, during which time Oda Nobunaga and his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, imposed order...
(1568-1600) and Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
s (1600-1868). It forms the basis of today's traditional-style Japanese house. Characteristics of the shoin-zukuri development were the incorporation of square posts and floors completely covered with tatami
Tatami
A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core , with a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in standard sizes, with the length exactly twice the width...
. The style takes its name from the shoin
Shoin
' is a type of audience hall in Japanese architecture that was developed during the Muromachi period. The term originally meant a study and a place for lectures on the sūtra within a temple, but later it came to mean just a drawing room or study. From this room takes its name the shoin-zukuri style...
, a term that originally meant a study and a place for lectures on the sūtra
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
within a temple, but which later came to mean just a drawing room or study.
History
The foundations for the design of today's traditional Japanese residential houses with tatamiTatami
A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core , with a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in standard sizes, with the length exactly twice the width...
floors were established in the late Muromachi period
Muromachi period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...
and refined during the ensuing Momoyama period.
Shoin-zukuri, a new architectural style influenced by Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, developed during that time from the shinden-zukuri
Shinden-zukuri
Shinden-zukuri refers to the style of domestic architecture developed for palatial or aristocratic mansions built in Heian-kyō in the Heian period , especially in 10th century Japan....
of the earlier Heian period
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
's palaces and the subsequent residential style favored by the warrior class during the Kamakura period
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
. The term , meaning study
Study (room)
A study is a room in a house which is used for paperwork, computer work, or reading. Historically, the study of a house was reserved for use as the private office and reading room of a family father as the formal head of a household, but today studies are generally either used to operate a home...
or drawing room
Drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained. The name is derived from the sixteenth-century terms "withdrawing room" and "withdrawing chamber", which remained in use through the seventeenth century, and made its first written appearance in 1642...
has been used to denote reception rooms in residences of the military elite as well as study rooms at monasteries. A shoin has a core area
Moya (architecture)
In Japanese architecture is the core of a building. Originally the central part of a residential building was called moya. After the introduction of Buddhism to Japan in the 6th century, moya has been used to denote the sacred central area of a temple building. It is generally surrounded by aisle...
surrounded by aisles
Hisashi (architecture)
In Japanese architecture the term has two meanings:* As more commonly used, the term indicates the eaves of a roof, that is, the part along the edge of a roof projecting beyond the side of the building to provide protection against the weather....
, and smaller areas separated by fusuma
Fusuma
In Japanese architecture, fusuma are vertical rectangular panels which can slide from side to side to redefine spaces within a room, or act as doors. They typically measure about wide by tall, the same size as a tatami mat, and are two or three centimeters thick...
sliding doors, or shōji
Shoji
In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo...
partitions constructed of paper on a wooden frame or wooden equivalents, and . The main reception room is characterized by specific features: a recessed alcove (tokonoma
Tokonoma
Tokonoma , also referred to simply as toko, is a Japanese term generally referring to a built-in recessed space in a Japanese style reception room, in which items for artistic appreciation are displayed. In English, tokonoma is usually called alcove. The items usually displayed in a tokonoma are...
); staggered shelves; built-in desks; and ornate sliding doors. Generally the reception room is covered with wall-to-wall tatami, has square beveled pillars, a coved
Coved ceiling
A coved ceiling is a ceiling that has had the visual appearance of the point where the ceiling meets the walls improved by the addition of coving.It can also refer to an arched-dome ceiling, like in a mosque....
and/or coffered ceiling, and . The entrance hall (genkan) emerged as an element of residential architecture during the Momoyama period. The oldest extant shoin style building is the Tōgu-dō
Dō (architecture)
is a Japanese word for building. It is very often used in Japanese Buddhism as a suffix in the name of some of the many buildings that can be part of a Japanese temple compound. The prefix can be the name of a deity associated with it is a Japanese word for building. It is very often used in...
at Ginkaku-ji
Ginkaku-ji
, the "Temple of the Silver Pavilion," is a Zen temple in the Sakyo ward of Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the construction that represents the Higashiyama Culture of Muromachi period....
dating from 1485. Other representative examples of early shoin style, also called shuden, include two guest halls at Mii-dera
Mii-dera
', formally called ', is a Buddhist temple located at the foot of Mount Hiei, in the city of Ōtsu, in Shiga Prefecture. It is only a short distance from both Kyoto, and Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. The head temple of the Tendai Jimon sect, it is something of a sister temple to Enryakuji, at...
. In the early Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, shoin-zukuri reached its peak and spread beyond the residences of the military elite. The more formal shoin-style of this period is apparent in the characteristics of Ninomaru Palace at Nijō Castle
Nijo Castle
is a flatland castle located in Kyoto, Japan. The castle consists of two concentric rings of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens...
as well as the shoin at Nishi Hongan-ji (see photos above).
The simpler style used in the architecture of tea houses
Chashitsu
In Japanese tradition, architectural spaces designed to be used for tea ceremony gatherings are known as chashitsu ....
for the tea ceremony developed in parallel with shoin-zukuri. In the 16th century Sen no Rikyū
Sen no Rikyu
, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on chanoyu, the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of wabi-cha...
established dedicated style teahouses characterized by their small size of typically two to eight mat
Tatami
A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core , with a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in standard sizes, with the length exactly twice the width...
, the use of natural materials, and rustic appearance. This teahouse style, exemplified by the Joan and Taian teahouses, was influenced by Japanese farmhouse style and the shoin style featuring tatami matted floors, recessed alcoves (tokonoma
Tokonoma
Tokonoma , also referred to simply as toko, is a Japanese term generally referring to a built-in recessed space in a Japanese style reception room, in which items for artistic appreciation are displayed. In English, tokonoma is usually called alcove. The items usually displayed in a tokonoma are...
) and one or more ante chambers for preparations.
Sukiya-zukuri
By the beginning of the Edo periodEdo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, the features of the shoin and the teahouse styles began to blend. The result was an informal version of the shoin style called . The sukiya-zukuri style has a characteristic decorative alcove and shelf, and utilizes woods such as cedar, pine, hemlock, bamboo, and cypress
Chamaecyparis obtusa
Chamaecyparis obtusa is a species of cypress native to central Japan.It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown...
, often with rough surfaces including the bark. Compared to the shoin style's, roof eaves in the sukiya style bend downward. While the shoin style was suitable for ceremonial architecture, it became too imposing for residential buildings. Consequently the less formal sukiya style was used for the mansions of the aristocracy and samurai after the beginning of the Edo period.