Japanese Architecture Roof Styles
Japanese Roof Styles
The roofs of traditional Japanese structures are kept curvilinear to protect the windows from rain. Roofs are often the focal point of many structures.
In Japanese architecture, there are primarily four types of architectural styles in roof construction. They are significant not only for their attractiveness, but also for their function in the structure. Roofs in Japanese architecture are classified into four types: kirizuma (gabled roof), yosemune (hipped roof), irimoya (hip-and-gable roof), and hogyo (square pyramidal roof). Eaves are commonly adorned with detailed and symbolic kawara, which also protect from rain. The Japanese enjoy breathing in fresh air and listening to the pitter-patter of summer raindrops. Roofing materials are classified into four types: tile, thatch, planks, shingle, and bark.
Kirizuma (Gabled Roof)
A building style with a gable roof. Originally known as Maya. Prior to the introduction of new building styles and techniques from the Asian Continent, the gable roof was preferred over the hipped roof. The gabled roof is commonly found in shrines and townhouses.
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| Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, Heian period |
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| Kirizuma Gabled Roof |
Yosemune (Hipped Roof)
One of the roof styles is kirizuma-zukuri, which denotes a roof with two surfaces inclining from the ridge at the top or having the shape of a book placed with its face on the lower side. In a broad sense, this term refers to any building with this style of roof. It is mostly found in temples and upper-class homes and also it is most likely to be discovered beneath a farmer's house (minka), with a clear distinction between the Irimoya roof of temples and shoins. The temples and upper class Irimoya roof are the result of the addition of a porch-style element hisashi around the house moya.
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| Yosemune Hipped Roof Basic Structure |
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| Kenchoji Butsuden Temple in Japan (1227-1263) |
Irimoya
Its gable is typically located directly above the moya, or core, and its hip covers the hisashi, a veranda-like aisle that surrounds the core on one or more sides. In Japan, it is still widely used in the construction of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. It is also known as moya-zukuri. It was prohibited in certain areas under sumptuary laws enacted during the Edo period as a form of profligacy unsuitable for farmers.
Following the shogunate's demise, all restrictions on building materials and styles were lifted. People began to live in houses that reflected their social status, and the shogunate established a strict code for architectural materials and elements that were forbidden to the general public.
Feudal lords kept mansions appropriate to their position and authority. Most of these magnificent homes contained elements and luxuries that the common man was not permitted to possess unless under special circumstances. Only the minka constructed at the end of the Edo period had an international irimoya style roof. With the end of the Edo period, social discrimination ended, and farmers' house roofs were no longer irimoya style roofs, but yosemune style roofs with an opening under the ridgepole.
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| Woman Praying under the Irimoya Structure |
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| Kitbitsu-zukuri |
Hogyo
A pyramidal style of roof constructed over a square building. There is no ridge munagi . When the roof is used for religious reasons, it contains the roban a parallelepipedal object on top with a double role, decorative and spiritual. The hip rafters sumigi, at each corner of the building extend directly upward to form a peak. Example: Okunoin Mao-den on Mount Kurama, Kyoto. The roban is said to have ward off evil spirits because a sacred gem hoju sits on the top of roban.
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| Okunoin Mao-den on Mount Kurama,Kyoto |
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| Hogyo Roof Style |
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