Japanese architecture has been typified by wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors ('' fusuma'') and other traditional partitions were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space t ...

, the is the core of a building. Originally, the central part of a residential building was called ''omoya''. After the introduction of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

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 like areas called '' hisashi''. In temples constructed in the hip-and-gable style (''

irimoya-zukuri The East Asian hip-and-gable roof (''Xiēshān'' (歇山) in Chinese, ''Irimoya'' (入母屋) in Japanese, and ''Paljakjibung'' (팔작지붕) in Korean) also known as 'resting hill roof', consists of a hip roof that slopes down on all four si ...

''), the gabled part usually covers the ''moya'' while the hipped part covers the aisles.

A ''butsuden's'' floor plan

The drawing shows the floor plan of a typical Zen main ''butsuden'' such as the one in the photo above at

Enkaku-ji , or Engaku-ji (円覚寺), is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture to the south of Tokyo. Fou ...

in Kamakura. The core of the building (''moya'') is 3 x 3 ken wide and is surrounded on four sides by a 1-ken wide ''hisashi'', bringing the external dimensions of the edifice to a total of 5 x 5 ken. Because the ''hisashi'' is covered by a pent roof of its own, the ''butsuden'' seems to have two stories, but in fact has only one. This decorative pent roof which does not correspond to an internal vertical division is called , literally "skirt story" or "cuff story". The same structure can be found in a '' tahōtō'' with the same effect: the structure seems to have a second story, but in fact it doesn't.

References

Architecture in Japan {{Buddhist temples in Japan