User:Bamse/List of National Treasures (shrines)

=lead= The origins of Shinto, the natural spirituality of Japan, go back to the Yayoi period (from about 500 BC to 300 AD). Natural objects like rocks, waterfalls, islands, and especially mountains were worshipped as yorishiro — objects capable of attracting kami. Some of the earliest sacred spaces are thought to have been marked by a surrounding fence and an entrance gate or torii. Temporary buildings resembling present day portable shrines, were constructed to welcome the gods. At a later stage, permanent structures were dedicated to the gods. These ancient shrines had the form of dwellings (Izumo Taisha) or storehouses (Ise Grand Shrine) with gabled roofs, raised floors, plank walls and were reed-thatched or covered with hinoki cypress bark. No special provisions were made for the worshipers. Three major forms of ancient architectural styles are distinguished: taisha-zukuri, shinmei-zukuri and sumiyoshi-zukuri  They are exemplified by Izumo Taisha, Nishina Shinmei Shrine and Sumiyoshi Taisha respectively and date to before 552. In a tradition known as Shikine sengū-sai (式年遷宮祭), shrine buildings were faithfully rebuilt at regular intervals following the design of the preceding structure thereby preserving the ancient style to the present day.

Buddhism, introduced to Japan in the mid-6th century from Baekje, brought new ideas to shrine architecture and, indeed, today's Shinto shrine blueprint is of Buddhist origin. The concept of temples as a place of assembly spread to shrines, and places for worshippers in the form of extended roofs or worship halls (haiden) in addition to the main hall (honden) started to be built. Elements from Buddhist temple architecture that were adopted are: column-base stones, brackets, curved roofs, painted surfaces, metal ornaments, corridors and pagodas. ; At the end of the 8th century new architectural styles had formed making use of these elements in one way or another: kasuga-zukuri (Kasuga Shrine and Hakusandō/Kasugadō at Enjō-ji), the flowing roof or nagare-zukuri (Shimogamo Shrine), hachiman-zukuri (Usa Shrine) and hiyoshi-zukuri (Hiyoshi Taisha). Of these, the nagare-zukuri was the most popular followed by the kasuga-zukuri style. The honden of the Ujigami Shrine dates to this period. Two-storied gates and grand colonnades instead of torii and fences were copied on a large scale from temple architecture at the end of the Heian period. Stylistically, shrines like the Itsukushima Shrine were influenced by the residential shinden-zukuri style of palaces and mansions.

The auxiliary Marōdo Shrine at Itsukushima Shrine originates from the Kamakura period while the honden and haiden of the Kibitsu Shrine date to the Muromachi period. During the Momoyama period a new system of shrine building, gongen-zukuri, was introduced which joined the main hall with the oratory via a connecting structure called ai-no-ma similar to the hachiman-zukuri style. Examples of this style are the honden at Kitano Tenman-gū and Ōsaki Hachiman Shrine. The Edo period Tōshō-gū is a complex assembly of richly adorned shrines, temples and a mausoleum. Such complexes are a result of syncretism of Buddhism and Shinto. They first appeared during the Heian period, Kitano Tenman-gū, built in 947 for the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, being the first of these byō or jingū-ji.

The number of Shinto shrines in Japan today has been estimated to be higher than 150,000. Of these, single structure shrines are the most numerous, but shrine buildings can include: oratories (in front of main sanctuary), purification halls, offering hall called heiden (between honden and haiden), dance halls, stone or metal lanterns, fences or walls, torii and other structures.

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. These shrine structures adhere to the current definition, and 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 50 entries of shrine structures from 12th-century Classical Heian period to the early modern 19th-century Edo period. In fact the number of structures presented is more than 50, because in some cases groups of related structures are combined to form a single entry. The structures listed include main halls (honden), oratories (haiden), gates, offering halls (heiden), purification halls (haraiden) and other structures associated with shrines.


 * general
 * shrines are traditionally (now other factors: availability of plot,...) related/connected to their natural environment
 * have been (and will be) constructed of wood
 * average life (resulting from wood construction) about 50 years, but faithfully reconstructed


 * ancient time


 * early buddhist


 * from kamakura period to momoyama period


 * edo period


 * shrine classification by type of main hall

encyclopedi

in table

 * main structure of kibitsu shrine is largest in Japan, 14.5x17.9m (take more data from this ref)
 * hakusando and kasugado are oldest extant structures in kasuga-zukuri
 * izumo taisha: 2x2, 10.9x10.9m, honden was originally 48m, now 24m tall; slightly curved roof, three ridge billets, ; believed to have been the house of Ōkuninushi
 * kitano tenmangu: gongen style, founded in 10th century
 * sumiyoshi taisha: 4 identical shrines (3 in a line and the 4th to the side forming L shape); each shrien: 2x4, 4.8x8m, interior separated in two rooms,
 * kasuga shrine: four buildings, each 1.83x2.64m, two ridge billets, constructed on grid frame, style from heian period ; founded around mid 8th century, present form at beginning of heian period
 * kamigamo shrine: two bulidings (honden + gonden?, one used when the other is under construction), 5.9x7.2m, buildings constructed on grid frame like kasuga
 * usa shrine: inside separated into two rooms (but each has a seat for a god -> not haiden/honden), as early as 8th century ; "very old foundation", present buildings from edo period
 * shimogamo: founded before heian capital, present buildings from 17th century
 * hiyoshi taisha: "very old foundation", present buildings from momoyama period
 * itsukushima shrine: originally constructed in 1168, destroyed by fire, reconstructed in 1241 in roughly present form

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statistics
20 honden, 7 honden-(ainoma/heiden/nothing)-haiden,, 4 gates, 5 corridors, 5 haiden, 2 purification halls, others (hakusando, kasugado, nageiri hall, shinra zenjin hall, associate hall (gonden), fence, offering hall (heiden)


 * improve notes on architecture styles