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List Of National Treasures Of Japan (temples)
The term " National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897. The definition and the criteria have changed since the inception of the term. The temple structures in this list were designated national treasures when the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties was implemented on June 9, 1951. The items are selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology based on their "especially high historical or artistic value". This list presents 158 entries of national treasure temple structures from the late 7th-century Classical Asuka period to the early modern 19th-century Edo period. The number of structures listed is more than 158, because in some cases groups of related structures are combined to form a single entry. The structures include main halls such as '' kon-dō'', ''hon-dō'', ''Butsuden''; pagodas, gates, , corridors, other halls and structures that are part of a Buddhist temple. History of Buddhist temples i ...
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Asuka, Yamato
was the Imperial capital of Japan during the Asuka period (538 – 710 AD), which takes its name from this place. It is located in the present-day village of Asuka, Nara Prefecture. Etymology Some of the many theories of what the place was named after include the bird common crossbill, or ''isuka'' in Japanese, or local geological features, e.g. 洲処 (''suka'', meaning sandbar, sandbank or delta) or 崩地 (''asu'') + 処 (''ka''). Or it may have been named in honor of Asuka (or Ashuku) Nyorai, the Japanese equivalent of Akshobhya, one of the Five Buddhas of Wisdom, who is still worshiped in the Asuka-dera (Asuka Temple), the Asuka-niimasu-jinja (the shrine for his manifestation as a Shinto god), and several other structures from those days. Archaeology Archaeology projects continue to uncover relics from these ruins. Recent discoveries in the area include Wado coins, believed to be some of the oldest coins in Japan, and paintings in the Kitora and Takamatsuzuka Kofun, or ...
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Emperor Shōmu
was the 45th Emperor of Japan, emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 聖武天皇 (45)/ref> according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Shōmu's reign spanned the years 724 through 749, during the Nara period. Traditional narrative Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (''imina'') is not clearly known, but he was known as Oshi-hiraki Toyosakura-hiko-no-mikoto. Shōmu was the son of Emperor Monmu and Fujiwara no Miyako, a daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito.Varley, p. 141. Shōmu had five consorts and six Imperial sons and daughters.Brown, p. 272. Events of Shōmu's reign Shōmu was still a child at the time of his father's death; thus, his grandmother, Empress Gemmei, and aunt, Empress Gensho, occupied the throne before he acceded. * 724 (''Yōrō 8, 1st month''): In the 9th year of Genshō''-tennō''s reign (元正天皇九年), the empress abdicated; and her nephew received the succession (‘� ...
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Shinto Shrine
A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dictionary The may be absent in cases where a shrine stands on or near a sacred mountain, tree, or other object which can be worshipped directly or in cases where a shrine possesses either an altar-like structure, called a himorogi, , or an object believed to be capable of attracting spirits, called a yorishiro, , which can also serve as direct bonds to a . There may be a and other structures as well. Although only one word ("shrine") is used in English, in Japanese, Shinto shrines may carry any one of many different, non-equivalent names like , , , , , , , , , or . Miniature shrines (hokora, ) can occasionally be found on roadsides. Large shrines sometimes have on their precincts miniature shrines, or . Because the and once had differe ...
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Hakuhō Period
The was an unofficial of Emperor TenmuNussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Hakuhō''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File. after '' Hakuchi'' and before '' Suchō''. The duration of this discrete non-''nengō'' timespan lasted from 673 through 686. The Hakuhō period is more often used as a general term which describes a wider range of years. History of art Hakuhō is conventionally used to identify a broad historical and artistic period of the late seventh century and early eighth century. The term is primarily used in art history and is thought to have been introduced at the 1910 Japan–British Exhibition. ''Hakuhou jidai'' 白鳳時代
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Shichidō Garan
''Shichidō garan'' is a Buddhism in Japan, Japanese Buddhist term indicating the seven Dō (architecture), halls composing the ideal Buddhist temple compound. This compound word is composed of , literally meaning "seven halls", and , meaning "temple". The term is often shortened to just ''garan''. Which seven halls the term refers to varies, and 七堂 may be a misinterpretation of , meaning "complete temple".Iwanami KōjienKōsetsu Bukkyō Daijiten (広説仏教語大辞典) In practice, ''shichidō garan'' often simply means a large temple with many buildings. Etymology and history of the term in Japanese is an abbreviated form of the expression , itself a transliteration of the Sanskrit ''saMghaaraama'' (सँघाराम), literally meaning "garden for monks".JAANUS, ''garan'' A Japanese ''garan'' was originally just a park where monks gathered together with their teacher, but the term later came to mean "Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temple". The word ''garan' ...
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Kyōzō
in Japanese Buddhist architecture is a repository for sūtras and chronicles of the temple history. It is also called , , or . In ancient times the ''kyōzō'' was placed opposite the shōrō, belfry on the east–west axis of the temple. The earliest extant ''kyōzō'' is at Hōryū-ji, and it is a two-storied structure. An example of one-storied ''kyōzō'' is at Tōshōdai-ji in Nara, Nara, Nara. A ''kyōzō's'' usual size is 3 x 3 ken (architecture), ''ken''. All storage buildings are equipped with shelving to store the containers that hold the rolled sūtras. Some temples have circular revolving shelves for sūtra storage: a central pillar revolves, like a vertical axle, and octahedral tubes are attached to it. A revolving sūtra storage case is called . Revolving shelves are convenient because they allow priests and monks to select the needed sūtra quickly. Eventually, in some ''kyōzō'' the faithful were permitted to push the shelves around the pillar while praying—it ...
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Bell Tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell towers, often part of a municipal building, an educational establishment, or a tower built specifically to house a carillon. Church bell towers often incorporate clocks, and secular towers usually do, as a public service. The term campanile (, also , ), from the Italian ''campanile'', which in turn derives from ''campana'', meaning "bell", is synonymous with ''bell tower''; though in English usage campanile tends to be used to refer to a free standing bell tower. A bell tower may also in some traditions be called a belfry, though this term may also refer specifically to the substructure that houses the bells and the ringers rather than the complete tower. The tallest free-standing bell tower in the world, high, is the Mortegliano Bell To ...
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Kairō
Two examples of ''kairō'' , , is the Japanese version of a cloister, a covered corridor originally built around the most sacred area of a Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temple, a zone which contained the ''Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism), kondō'' and the ''tō''. Nowadays it can be found also at Shinto shrines and at ''shinden-zukuri'' aristocratic residences. The ''kairō'' and the ''rōmon'' were among the most important among the ''garan'' elements which appeared during the Heian period. The first surrounded the holiest part of the ''garan'', while the second was its main exit. Neither was originally characteristic of Shinto shrines, but in time they often came to replace the traditional shrine surrounding fence called ''tamagaki''. The earliest example of a ''kairō''/''rōmon'' complex can be found at Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū, a shrine now but a former .On the subject of shrine-temple complexes, see the article ''Shinbutsu shūgō''. The ''rōmon'' is believed to ha ...
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Ikaruga, Nara
file:Horyu-ji10s3200.jpg, 280px, Horyu-ji is a List of towns in Japan, town in Ikoma District, Nara, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 28,036 in 12,292 households, and a population density of 2000 persons per km2. The total area of the town is Ikaruga is home to Hōryū-ji and Hokki-ji, ancient Buddhism, Buddhist temples collectively inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Other ancient temples include Hōrin-ji (Nara), Hōrin-ji, also in the vicinity of Hōryū-ji. The town was named after the palace of Prince Shōtoku, Hōryū-ji#Yumedono (Hall of Dreams), Ikaruga-no-Miya (''Imperial Palace of Ikaruga'', or ''Imperial House of Ikaruga''), whose grounds were at Hōryū-ji. Geography Topographically, Ikaruga is divided into a mountain forest area in the north, a hilly area in the center, and a plain area in the south. The northern mountain forest area is the southern end of the Yata Hills, which are part of the Ikoma Mountains, and Mount Matsuo is located there. ...
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Hōryū-ji
is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in Ikaruga, Nara, Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Built shortly after Buddhism was introduced to Japan, it is also one of the oldest Buddhist sites in the country. Its full name is , or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, with the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery. The temple was founded by Prince Shōtoku in 607. According to the ''Nihon Shoki'', in 670 all buildings were burned down by lightning. Reconstruction of the temple complex began soon after. Rebuilt at least 1,300 years ago, the Kondō (main hall) is widely recognized as the world's oldest wooden building. A tree ring survey conducted in 2001 revealed that the shinbashira of the five-story pagoda were cut down in 594, before it burned down in 670. On January 26, 1949, a fire broke out during the dismantling and repair of the Kondō. This heavily damaged the building and also destroyed a mural o ...
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