Buddhist temples are, together with Shinto shrines, considered to be among the most numerous, famous, and important religious buildings in Japan. The Japanese word for a Buddhist temple is tera (?), and the same kanji also has the pronunciation ji, so that temple names frequently end in -dera or -ji. Another ending, -in (?), is normally used to refer to minor temples. Such famous temples as Kiyomizu-dera, Enryaku-ji, and K?toku-in illustrate this naming pattern.
Video Buddhist temples in Japan
Buddhist and Shinto structures
In Japan, Buddhist temples co-exist with Shinto shrines, and both share the basic features of Japanese traditional architecture. Not only can torii, the gates usually associated only with Shinto, be found at both, but the entrance to a shrine can be marked by a r?mon, a gate which is Buddhist in origin and can therefore very often be found also at temples. Some shrines, for example Iwashimizu Hachiman-g?, have a Buddhist-style main gate called s?mon. Many temples have a temizuya and komainu, like a shrine. Conversely, some shrines make use of incense or have a sh?r? belltower. Others - for example, Tanzan Jinja in Nara - may even have a pagoda.
Similarities between temples and shrines are also functional. Like a shrine, a Buddhist temple is not primarily a place of worship: its most important buildings are used for the safekeeping of sacred objects (the honzon, equivalent to a shrine's shintai), and are not accessible to worshipers. Unlike a Christian church, a temple is also a monastery. There are specialized buildings for certain rites, but these are usually open only to a limited number of participants. Religious mass gatherings do not take place with regularity as with Christian religions, and are in any event not held inside the temple. If many people are involved in a ceremony, it will assume a festive character and will be held outdoors.
The reason for the great structural resemblances between the two lies in their common history. It is in fact normal for a temple to have been also a shrine, and in architectural terms, obvious differences between the two are therefore few, so much so that often only a specialist can see them.
Shrines enshrining local kami existed long before the arrival of Buddhism, but they consisted either of demarcated land areas without any building or of temporary shrines, erected when needed. With the arrival of Buddhism in Japan in the 6th century, shrines were subjected to its influence and adopted both the concept of permanent structures and the architecture of Buddhist temples.
The successive development of shinbutsu-sh?g? (syncretism of Buddhism and kami worship) and of the honji suijaku theory brought to the almost complete fusion of kami worship and Buddhism. It became normal for shrines to be accompanied by temples in mixed complexes called jing?-ji (???, lit. shrine temple) or miyadera (??, lit. shrine temple). The opposite was also common: most temples had at least a small shrine dedicated to its tutelary kami, and were therefore called jisha (??, temple shrines). The Meiji era's eliminated most jing?ji, but left jisha intact, so much so that even today most temples have at least one, sometimes very large, shrine on their premises and Buddhist goddess Benzaiten is often worshiped at Shinto shrines.
As a consequence, for centuries shrines and temples had a symbiotic relationship where each influenced the other. Shrines took from Buddhism its gates (Mon), the use of a hall for lay worshipers, the use of vermilion-colored wood and more, while Chinese Buddhist architecture was adapted to Japanese tastes with more asymmetrical layouts, greater use of natural materials, and an adaptation of the monastery to the pre-existing natural environment.
The clear separation between Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, which today is the norm, emerges only as a result of the shinbutsu bunri ("separation of kami and Buddhas") law of 1868. This separation was mandated by law, and many shrine-temples were forced to become just shrines, among them famous ones like Usa Hachiman-g? and Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g?.
Because mixing the two religions was now forbidden, jing?ji had to give away some of their properties or dismantle some of their buildings, thus damaging the integrity of their cultural heritage and decreasing the historical and economic value of their properties. For example, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g?'s giant Ni? (the two wooden wardens usually found at the sides of a temple's entrance), being objects of Buddhist worship and therefore illegal where they were, were sold to Jufuku-ji, where they still are. The shrine-temple also had to destroy Buddhism-related buildings, for example its tah?t?, its mid?, and its shichid? garan.
Maps Buddhist temples in Japan
Architecture
General features
Buddhist architecture in Japan is not native, but was imported from China and other Asian cultures over the centuries with such constancy that the building styles of all Six Dynasties are represented. Its history is as a consequence dominated by Chinese and other Asian techniques and styles (present even in Ise Shrine, held to be the quintessence of Japanese architecture) on one side, and by Japanese original variations on those themes on the other.
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 nonetheless be found. First of all is the choice of materials, always wood in various forms (planks, straw, tree bark, 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 general structure is almost always the same: post and lintel support a large and gently curved roof, while the walls are paper-thin, often movable and in any case non-carrying. Arches and barrel roofs are completely absent. Gable and eave curves are gentler than in China and columnar entasis (convexity at the center) limited.
The roof is the most visually impressive component, often constituting half the size of the whole edifice. The slightly curved eaves extend far beyond the walls, covering verandas, and their weight must therefore be supported by complex bracket systems called toky?. These oversize eaves give the interior a characteristic dimness, which contributes to the temple's atmosphere. The interior of the building normally consists of a single room at the center called moya, from which sometimes depart other less important spaces, for example corridors called hisashi.
Inner space divisions are fluid, and room size can be modified through the use of screens or movable paper walls. The large, single space offered by the main hall can therefore be altered according to the need. The separation between inside and outside is itself in some measure not absolute as entire walls can be removed, opening the temple to visitors. Verandas appear to be part of the building to an outsider, but part of the external world to those in the temple. Structures are therefore made to a certain extent part of their environment. The use of construction modules keeps proportions between different parts of the edifice constant, preserving its overall harmony.(On the subject of temple proportions, see also the article ken).
Even in cases as that of Nikk? T?sh?-g?, where every available space is heavily decorated, ornamentation tends to follow, and therefore emphasize rather than hide, basic structures.
Being shared by both sacred and profane architecture, these architectonic features made it easy converting a lay building into a temple. This happened for example at H?ry?-ji, where a noblewoman's mansion was transformed into a religious building.
History
The architecture of Buddhist temples, as that of any structure, has changed and developed over the centuries. However, while the particular details may vary, the general themes and styles have strong similarities and common origins.
The already mentioned H?ry?-ji was one of the first Buddhist temples built in Japan. Its primary structures represent the style current in 6th century Sui dynasty China. The Kond? (Golden Hall) is a double-roofed structure, supported by thick, strong pillars, and giving a feeling of boldness and weight.
Most Buddhist temples in Japan belong to one of four main styles:
- Way? - A style developed in art and architecture in Japan during the Heian period by the esoteric sects Tendai and Shingon on the basis of contemporary Chinese architecture. So called to distinguish it from imported Chinese styles, in architecture it was characterized by simplicity, refrain for ornamentation, use of natural timber and in general plain materials.
- Daibutsuy? - a Japanese religious architectural style which emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century on the basis of contemporary Chinese architecture. Introduced by priest Ch?gen, this grandiose and monumental style was based on Song Dynasty architecture and was the antithesis of the simple and traditional way? style. The Nandaimon at T?dai-ji and the Amida Hall at J?do-ji are the only extant examples of this style.
- Zensh?y? - A style which takes its name from its creator, the Buddhist Zen sect, and which emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century on the basis of contemporary Chinese architecture. The zensh?y? was originally called karay? (??, Chinese style) but, like the Daibutsu style, was rechristened by ?ta Hirotar?, a 20th-century scholar. Its characteristics are earthen floors, decorative curved pent roofs (mokoshi) and pronouncedly curved main roofs, cusped windows (kat?mado) and paneled doors. Typical of the style is also the main hall (Butsuden), which has just one story but seems to have two because of the presence of a covered pent roof called mokoshi.
- Setch?y? - an architectural style born in Japan during the Muromachi period from the fusion of elements from three preceding styles, the way?, the daibutsuy? and zen'y?. It is exemplified by the main hall at Kakurin-ji. The combination of way? and daibutsuy? in particular became so frequent that sometimes it is classed separately by scholars under the name Shin-way? (???, new way?).
Layout and geomantic positioning
Buddhist temple complexes consist of a number of structures arranged according to certain concepts or guidelines.
The arrangement of the major buildings (garan haichi (????)) changed over time. An early pattern had a gate, tower, kond? and kod? in a straight line from south to north. Corridors extended east and west from the flanks of the gate, then turned north, and finally joined north of the k?do, forming a cloister around the pagoda and the major halls. This pattern, typified by Shitenn?-ji in Osaka, came from China via Baekje; the Chinese style of Buddhist temples, though altered somewhat by China via Korean peninsula, ultimately was based on that of Chinese palaces, and this is evident in many of the basic design features which remain today in the temples of all three countries.
A Buddhist temple complex in Japan generally follows the pattern of a series of sacred spaces encircling a courtyard, and entered via a set of gates. These gates will typically have a pair of large guardian statues, called Ni?.
In addition, many of the more important or powerful temples are built in locations which are favorable according to the precepts of Chinese geomancy. For example, Enryaku-ji, which sits atop Mount Hiei to the north-east of Kyoto, is said to defend the city from evil spirits by being placed in that direction. The arrangements of mountains and other geographic features in particular directions around the temple play important roles as well. This custom continued for a long time. Eight centuries after the founding of Enryaku-ji, the Tokugawa shogunate established Kan'ei-ji in a similar direction for the protection of their Edo Castle. Its mountain-name, Mount T?ei (??? T?ei-zan), takes a character from Mount Hiei (??? Hiei-zan), and can be interpreted as meaning "the Mount Hiei of the East."
Kamakura's Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g? is now only a Shinto shrine but, before the Shinto and Buddhism Separation Order (?????) of 1868, its name was Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g?-ji (??????, Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine Temple) and it was also a Buddhist temple, one of the oldest of the city. The temple and the city were built with Feng Shui in mind. The present location was carefully chosen as the most propitious after consulting a diviner because it had a mountain to the north (the Hokuzan (??)), a river to the east (the Namerikawa) and a great road to the west (the Kot? Kaid? (????)), and was open to the south (on Sagami Bay). Each direction was protected by a god: Genbu guarded the north, Seiry? the east, Byakko the west and Suzaku the south. The willows near the ponds and the catalpas next to the Museum of Modern Art represent respectively Seiry? and Byakko.
Geomancy lost in importance during the Heian period as temple layout was adapted to the natural environment, disregarding fengshui.
In addition to geomantic considerations, Buddhist temples, like any other religious structures, need to be organized in order to best serve their various purposes. The most important space in any Buddhist temple complex is the sacred space where images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas are kept, and where important rituals are performed.
These areas are always separated from those accessible to the lay worshipers, though the distance between the two and the manner of their separation is quite varied. In many temples, there is little more than a wooden railing dividing the sacred space with that of the laypeople, but in many others there is a significant distance, perhaps a graveled courtyard, between the two.
Another structure or space of great importance accommodates the physical day-to-day needs of the clergy. Spaces for eating, sleeping and studying are essential, particularly in those temples that serve as monasteries.
According to a 13th-century text, "a garan is a temple with a kon-d? (main hall), a t? (pagoda), a k?-d? (lecture hall), a sh?r? (belfry), a jiki-d? (refectory), a s?b? (monks' living quarters), and a ky?z? (scriptures deposit, library)." These are the seven listed as shichid? elements of a Nanto Rokush? (????, Nara six sects) temple.
A 15th-century text describes how Zen school temples (S?t? (??), Rinzai (??)) included a butsuden or butsu-d? (main hall), a hatt? (lecture hall), a kuin (kitchen/office), a s?-d? (building dedicated to Zazen), a sanmon (main gate), a t?su (toilet) and a yokushitsu (bath).
Common temple features
- Butsuden or Butsu-d? (?????) - lit. "Hall of Buddha".
- A Zen temple's main hall. Seems to have two stories, but has in fact only one and measures either 3×3 or 5×5 bays.
- Any building enshrining the statue of Buddha or of a bodhisattva and dedicated to prayer.
- chinjusha (???/???) - a small shrine built at a Buddhist temple and dedicated to its tutelary kami.
- ch?zuya (???) - see temizuya.
- ch?mon (??) - in a temple, the gate after the naindaimon connected to a kair?. See also mon.
- d? (?) - Lit. hall. Suffix for the name of the buildings part of a temple. The prefix can be the name of a deity associated with it (e.g. Yakushi-d?, or Yakushi hall) or express the building's function within the temple's compound (e.g. hon-d?, or main hall). See also Butsu-d?, h?-d?, hon-d?, jiki-d?, kaisan-d?, k?-d?, kon-d?, ky?-d?, mandara-d?, miei-d?, mi-d?, s?-d?, Yakushi-d? and zen-d?.
- garan - see shichi-d? garan.
- hatt? (??) - lit. "Dharma hall". A building dedicated to lectures by the chief priest on Buddhism's scriptures (the h?).
- h?j? (??) - the living quarters of the head priest of a Zen temple.
- Hokke-d? (???) - lit. "Lotus S?tra hall". In Tendai Buddhism, a hall whose layout allows walking around a statue for meditation. The purpose of walking is to concentrate on the Hokeky? and seek the ultimate truth.
- honb? (??) - residence of the jushoku, or head priest, of a temple.
- kair? (?????) - a long and roofed portico-like passage connecting two buildings.
- kaisan-d? (???) - founder's hall, usually at a Zen temple. Building enshrining a statue, portrait or memorial tablet of the founder of either the temple or the sect it belongs to. J?do sect temples often call it miei-d?.
- karamon (??) - generic term for a gate with an arched roof. See also mon.
- karesansui (???) - lit. dry landscape. A Japanese rock garden, often present in Zen temples, and sometimes found in temples of other sects too.
- kat?mado (???) - a bell shaped window originally developed at Zen temples in China, but widely used by other Buddhist sects as well as in lay buildings.
- kon-d? (??) - lit. "golden hall", it is the main hall of a garan, housing the main object of worship. Unlike a butsuden, it is a true two-story building (although the second story may sometimes be missing) measuring 9×7 bays.
- konr? (??) - covered corridor between two buildings
- kor? or kur? (??) - tower housing a drum that marks the passing of time. It used to face the sh?r? and lie next to the k?-d?, but now the drum is usually kept in the r?mon.
- kuin* (??) - kitchen/office of a Zen garan. A building hosting the galleys, the kitchen, and the offices of a temple. Usually situated in front and to the side of the butsuden, facing the s?-d?. Also called kuri.
- kuri (??) - see kuin
- ky?-d? (??) - see ky?z?.
- ky?z? (??) - lit. "scriptures deposit". Repository of s?tras and books about the temple's history. Also called ky?-d?.
- miei-d? (???) - lit. "image hall". Building housing an image of the temple's founder, equivalent to a Zen sect's kaisan-d?.
- mi-d? (??) - a generic honorific term for a building which enshrines a sacred statue.
- Miroku Nyorai (????) - Japanese name of Maitreya.
- mon (?) - a temple's gate, which can be named after its position (nandaimon: lit. "great southern gate"), its structure (nij?mon: "two storied gate"), a deity (Ni?mon: lit. "Nio gate"), or its use (onarimon: lit. "imperial visit gate", a gate reserved to the Emperor). The same gate can therefore be described using more than one term. For example, a Ni?mon can at the same time be a nij?mon.
- nandaimon (???) - the main southern gate of a temple, in particular that at Nara's T?dai-ji. See also mon.
- nij?mon (???) - a two-storied gate with a roof surrounding the first floor. See also mon.
- Ni?mon (??? or ???) - a two-storied or high gate guarded by two wooden guardians called Ni?. See also mon.
- noborir? (??) - a covered stairway at Nara's Hase-dera.
- pagoda - see stupa and t?.
- r?mon (??) - a high gate with two floors, only one of which has usable space, surrounded by a balcony and topped by a roof. Buddhist in origin, it is used also in Shinto shrines.
- sai-d? (??) - the refectory at a Zen temple or monastery. See also jiki-d?.
- sand? (??)- the approach leading from a torii to a shrine. The term is also used sometimes at Buddhist temples too.
- sanmon (?? or ??) - the gate in front of the butsuden. The name is short for Sangedatsumon (????), lit. Gate of the three liberations. Its three openings (k?mon (??), mus?mon (???) and muganmon (???)) symbolize the three gates to enlightenment. Entering, one can free himself from three passions (? ton, or greed, ? shin, or hatred, and ? chi, or "foolishness"). See also mon. Its size depends on the temple's rank. (See photos.)
- sanr? (??) - small buildings at the ends of a two-storied Zen gate containing the stairs to the second story.
- sekit? (??) - a stone pagoda (stupa). See also t?
- shichid? garan (????) - a double compound term literally meaning "seven halls" (??) and "(temple) buildings" (??). What is counted in the group of seven buildings, or shichid?, can vary greatly from temple to temple and from school to school. In practice, shichid? garan can also mean simply a large complex.
- Nanto Rokush? and later non-Zen schools: The shichid? garan in this case includes a kon-d?, a t?, a k?-d?, a sh?r?, a jiki-d?, a s?b?, and a ky?z?.
- Zen schools: A Zen shichid? garan includes a butsuden or butsu-d?, a hatt?, a ku'in, a s?-d?, a sanmon, a t?su and a yokushitsu.
- shoin (??) - originally a study and a place for lectures on the sutra within a temple, later the term came to mean just a study.
- sh?r? (??) - a temple's belfry, a building from which a bell is hung.
- s?b? (??) - The monks' living quarters in a non-Zen garan
- s?-d? (??) - Lit. "monk hall". A building dedicated to the practice of Zazen. It used to be dedicated to all kinds of activities, from eating to sleeping, centered on zazen.
- s?mon (??) - the gate at the entrance of a temple. It precedes the bigger and more important sanmon. See also mon.
- s?rin (??) - a spire reaching up from the center of the roof of some temple halls, tiered like a pagoda.
- sotoba or sot?ba (???) - transliteration of the Sanskrit stupa.
- A pagoda. Tower with an odd number of tiers (three, five, seven nine, or thirteen). See also stupa.
- Strips of wood left behind tombs during annual ceremonies (tsuizen) symbolizing a stupa. The upper part is segmented like a pagoda and carries Sanskrit inscriptions, sutras, and the kaimy? (posthumous name) of the deceased.
In present-day Japanese, sotoba usually has the latter meaning.
- stupa - in origin a vessel for Buddha's relics, later also a receptacle for scriptures and other relics. Its shape changed in the Far East under the influence of the Chinese watchtower to form tower-like structures like the T?butt?, the gorint?, the h?ky?int?, the sekit?, the t?, or the much simpler wooden stick-style sotoba.
- tatch? (?? or ??)
- In Zen temples, a building containing a pagoda enshrining the ashes of an important priest stands.
- Later, it became a subsidiary temple or a minor temple depending from a larger one.
- Finally, it became also subsidiary temple being the family temple (bodaiji) of an important family.
- tah?t? (???) - a two-storied pagoda with a ground floor having a dome-shaped ceiling and a square pent roof, a round second floor and square roofs.
- temizuya (???) - a fountain near the entrance of a shrine and a temple where worshipers can cleanse their hands and mouths before worship.
- tesaki (??) - Term used to count the roof-supporting brackets (toky? (????)) projecting from a temple's wall, usually composed of two steps (futatesaki (???))) or three (mitesaki ????).
- toky? (????) - see tesaki.
- torii (??)- the iconic Shinto gate at the entrance of a sacred area, usually, but not always, a shrine. Shrines of various size can be found next to, or inside temples.
- t?r? (??) - a lantern at a shrine or Buddhist temple. Some of its forms are influenced by the gorint?.
- -t? (?)
- A pagoda, and an evolution of the stupa. After reaching China, the stupa evolved into a tower with an odd number of tiers (three, five, seven, nine, thirteen), excepted the tah?t?, which has two.
- The word is used together as a suffix of a numeral indicating the number of a pagoda's tiers (three tiers= san-j?-no-t?, five tiers= go-j?-no-t?, seven tiers = nana-j?-no-t?, etc.).
- t?su or t?shi (??) - a Zen monastery's toilet.
- Yakushi-d? (???) - a building that enshrines a statue of Yakushi Nyorai.*
- yokushitsu* (??) - a monastery's bathroom.
- zen-d? (??) - lit. "hall of Zen". The building where monks practice zazen, and one of the main structures of a Zen garan.
Temple names
A temple's name (jig? (??) or jimy? (??)) is usually made of three parts. The first is the sang? (??, mountain name), the second is the ing? (??, cloister name) and the third is the san'in-jig? (????, temple name).
Sang?
Even though they may be located at the bottom of a valley, temples are metaphorically called mountains and even the numbers used to count them carry the ending -san or -zan (?), hence the name sang?. This tradition goes back to the times when temples were primarily monasteries purposely built in remote mountainous areas. The founding of a temple is called kaisan (??, lit. opening of the mountain) for this reason.
No fixed rules for its formation exist, but the sang? is basically topographical in origin, as in Hieizan Enryaku-ji: these two names together mean "Mount Hiei's Enryaku-ji". For this reason it is sometimes used as a personal name, particularly in Zen. There may be however some other semantic relationship between the sang? and the san'in-jig?, as for example in the case of Rurik?zan Yakushi-ji. The sang? and the jig? are simply different names of the same god. Sometimes the sang? and the jig? are both posthumous names, for example of the founder's mother and father.
Ing?
The character in (?), which gives the ing? its name, originally indicated an enclosure or section and therefore, by analogy, it later came to mean a cloister in a monastery. It is in this sense which it is applied to temples or, more often, subtemples. It can be also found in the name of formerly minor temples risen by chance to great prominence. For example, Kawagoe's Kita-in used to be one of three subtemples of a temple which no longer exist. Less frequent in an ing? are -an (?, hermitage) and -b? (?, monk's living quarters). -d? (?, hall) is normally used in the name of particular buildings of a temple's compound, e.g. Kannon-d?, but can be employed as a name of minor or small temples.
Jig?
The only name in common use is however the jig?, (ending in -ji, -tera, -dera (??, ... temple)) which can then be considered the main one. The sang? and ing? are not, and never were, in common use. The character -ji it contains is sometimes pronounced tera or dera as in Kiyomizu-dera, normally when the rest of the name is an indigenous name (kun'yomi).
Unofficial names
Temples are sometimes known by an unofficial but popular name. This is usually topographical in origin, as for example in the case of Asakusa's Sens?-ji, also known as Asakusa-dera. A temple can also be named after a special or famous characteristic, as for example in the case Kyoto's Saih?-ji, commonly called Koke-dera, or "moss temple" because of its famous moss garden. Unofficial names can have various other origins.
Gallery
See also
- Buddhism in Japan
- Buddhist art
- Buddhist architecture
- Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
- Japanese architecture
- List of Buddhist temples
- Terakoya
- List of National Treasures of Japan (temples)
- Senjafuda
- T?
- Japanese art
Notes
- see the book Japanese temples:sculptures, paintings, gardens and architecture
References
Bibliography
- Fletcher, Sir Banister; Cruickshank, Dan (1996) [1896]. Sir Banister Fletcher's a history of architecture (20th illustrated ed.). Architectural Press. ISBN 0-7506-2267-9. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
- Fujita Masaya, Koga Sh?saku, ed. (April 10, 1990). Nihon Kenchiku-shi (in Japanese) (September 30, 2008 ed.). Sh?wa-d?. ISBN 4-8122-9805-9.
- Japanese Art Net User System Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology (JAANUS)
- Kamakura Sh?k? Kaigijo (2008). Kamakura Kank? Bunka Kentei K?shiki Tekisutobukku (in Japanese). Kamakura: Kamakura Shunsh?sha. ISBN 978-4-7740-0386-3.
- Mutsu, Iso (June 1995). "Jufuku-ji". Kamakura: Fact and Legend. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-1968-8.
- Nishi, Kazuo; Hozumi, Kazuo (1996) [1983]. What is Japanese architecture? (illustrated ed.). Kodansha International. ISBN 4-7700-1992-0. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
- ?nuki, Akihiko (2008). Kamakura. Rekishi to Fushigi wo Aruku (in Japanese). Tokyo: Jitsugy? no Nihonsha. ISBN 978-4-408-59306-7.
- Sansom, George (1962). "Japan: A Short Cultural History." New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, Inc.
- Young, David; Young, Michiko (2007) [2004]. The art of Japanese architecture. Architecture and Interior Design (illustrated, revised ed.). Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-3838-0. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
Further reading
- Cluzel, Jean-Sébastien (October 2008). Architecture éternelle du Japon - De l'histoire aux mythes. Dijon: Editions Faton. ISBN 978-2-87844-107-9.
External links
- Japanese Temples Guide to over 190 with pictures and map.
- Japanese temples of historical interest. With photos.
- Kyoto and Japanese Buddhism by Tokushi Yusho. Brief history of temples in Kyoto by a Japanese scholar (English Translation)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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