The beauty of the Kara hafu

Article posted on Wednesday, November, 23rd, 2011 at 9:36 pm

The Chinese-style gable would easily have to be one of the more attractive elements of traditional Japanese architecture. Reliable sources inform me that the Kara gable (唐破風) has existed in Japan since the Heian Period (794 to 1185). One interesting thing worth noting is that kara (唐), while actually meaning China (specifically the Tang Dynasty), is merely used to denote elegant. Which is exactly what it is, if not actually Chinese.

Below, behind my wonderful family, is the Dazaifu Tenman-gu (shrine) in Fukuoka Prefecture. Quite prominent is its Kara-hafu. You’d have to agree that the shrine is looking pretty good considering it’s been standing since 1591.

Castle towers

Prior to the mid 1500′s the undulating curves of the Kara gable were most commonly found on shrines, temples, gates & palanquins. During the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573 to 1603) though, they were increasingly incorporated into the towers & gates of castles.

You’ll see there are two pictures of the Kara hafu below, and a quick glance may not reveal the subtle yet significant difference. To the left, the Kara gable sits along the edge of the roof. This is known as a Noki kara hafu. To the right, the Kara gable sits atop the roof and forms a small room. This is known as a Mukai kara hafu.

Noki kara hafu – 軒唐破風	Mukai kara hafu – 向唐破風
Uwajima Castle	Matsumoto Castle

Gates

Again, there are two examples. Are they the same? Of course not.

The first kara-mon (formerly of Najima Castle, Fukuoka) has its gable facing the way from which it is entered. The roof on the second gate (Meirin-kan, Hagi) is oriented East-West. Did you spot the difference?

Mukai kara mon – 向唐門	Hira kara mon – 平唐門

… and more gates

This Kara-mon is utterly spectacular. Though originally of Fushimi Momoyama castle, it is now located here at the Nishi Hongan-ji. As a side-note, there is a color photograph of this gate in the Genshoku Nihon no Bijutsu (Vol 12) that shows it completely devoid of paint. Quite a surprising sight, I assure you.

Also in Kyōto is the Kara-mon of Nijō castle. Found in large number on the gate is the 16-petal chrysanthemum; symbol of the Emperor. Prior to these being added in the latter half of the 1800′s, the heraldic crest that adorned the gate was the three-hollyhock-leaf crest of the Tokugawa clan.

So, there you have it. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Chinese-style gable. Did I miss anything?

Crossed wires

Article posted on Tuesday, August, 9th, 2011 at 11:17 pm

Once you hit the back streets of a town that few tourists get to see, you come across all manner of odd things. Just check out the handy-work in this picture. I wish I could say that it is a rare sight, but I’ve seen a few just like it.

People need lights, whether there’s a qualified electrician or not. It doesn’t matter how it might look, or that it becomes a potential fire hazard. What matters is that it works.

The building in the photo below is gate, a Yakui-style gate to be exact. It belongs to a shrine in the narrow streets of Yame city in Fukuoka Prefecture. It’s a miracle that the gate has managed to avoid a toasty finish. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Kyōbashi Gomon memories

Article posted on Thursday, May, 26th, 2011 at 10:10 pm

For anyone who knows Ōsaka castle, this old postcard will no-doubt look a little odd. Familiar but definitely different. The scene is the Kyōbashi Guchi, a masugata-style gate located to the Northwest of the castle. Standing in the distance is Ōsaka castle’s freshly-painted, concrete main tower.

The time frame for when this image could possibly have been captured is relatively brief. The tower was unveiled around 1930, and the gleaming gate complex failed to survive the bombing of Ōsaka in 1945. No data was available on the portable toilet at the entrance.

It’s a neat little postcard. The colours are vivid and it offers a great perspective of the castle. I’m a little disappointed with the stamps obscuring the bottom-right corner. Also, the red ink stamp is illegible. All-in-all though, it’s a postcard I was happy to get a hold of.

Related posts: Ōsaka’s Megaliths, A postcard from the edge (of the moat).

Odawara’s Uma-dashi Gate at Night

Article posted on Tuesday, May, 17th, 2011 at 6:11 pm

I consider it a miracle when my night-time shots actually turn out. My camera, though new-ish, is pretty basic, and the majority of the time I end up with grainy, lifeless photos. Now, what we see down there is hardly going to knock anyone’s sock’s off, but there is a certain clarity to it that I at least, am very happy about.

No need to guess that this is a gate from Odawara castle, it says so in the title. But, what the Uma-dashi is, is a small, enclosed square that has just three walls and two gates, the back wall is completely open. The wall that can be seen through the doorway is actually located across a moat. Just to be clear, the front is protected, the back is dangerously exposed. Can you imagine why that would be?

Yes! Full marks to all you clever people. The attackers, having breached the gate you see below, would be faced with another closed gate. The defending army would then be able to make light work of the boxed-in & exposed attackers. It would’ve indeed been like shooting fish in a barrel.

(More photos of the gates of Odawara Castle.)

The Sōmon Gate

Article posted on Sunday, May, 8th, 2011 at 1:35 pm

This old photograph is another taken from the book, Rokumeikan Hizō Shashinjō (鹿鳴館秘蔵写真帖). The gate pictured is the Sōmon gate (惣門), and is the first of three that lead to Tokugawa Hidetada’s mausoleum. The gate and the mausoleum itself were built by Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third Tokugawa Shōgun for his father, the second Tokugawa Shōgun (Hidetada).

Hidetada’s mausoleum is (was?) known as the Daitoku-in (台徳院) and was part of the Zōjō-ji (増上寺) temple complex that would later house the mausoleums of several of the Tokugawa Shōguns. Check out the following, totally-sweet table.

Sadly, the march of time plus a heavy dose of WWII bombing has ensured that nothing more than a handful of gates have survived to the present day of the original mausoleums’ buildings. Perhaps it won’t surprise you to know that the Sōmon gate is one of them.

It was a photo & post by fellow Twitterer, Muza-chan, that sparked my interest in the gate. Here is the post: Daitoku-in Mausoleum Somon Gate Night View. And with the help of that information, I was able to track the gate down to here.

The next time I’m in Tokyo, I will be making a visit to this gate for-sure!

Takanawa Gosho Entrance

Article posted on Wednesday, April, 27th, 2011 at 6:38 pm

This well-travelled gate started out life as the formal entrance of a high-ranking Daimyō’s residence, located to the east of what was Edo castle. It now fulfills the role of Tōkyo landmark at Ueno (here). Here’s a partial list of its names, and boy, there are a few:

• Kuro Mon – 黒門
• Ueno no Kuro Mon – 上野の黒門
• Tōgu Gosho no Sho Mon – 東宮御所の正門
• Kyū Inshū Ikeda Yashiki Omote Mon – 旧因州池田屋敷表門
• Kyū Inaba Tottori Han Ikeda Ke No Omote Mon – 旧因幡鳥取藩池田家の表門

Exactly when the gate was built is unknown, but it is believed to have been completed toward the end of the Edo period (1603 – 1868) where it served as the main gate of the Ikeda of Inaba Province. In 1892, it was transferred to the Emperor’s Eastern Palace (Tōgu Gosho) at Takanawadai Machi. The gate was awarded Important Cultural Property status in 1951, and shortly thereafter was moved to the front of the Tōkyō National Museum in 1954.

This type of gate is known as a Nagayamon (長屋門), basically a long building with a thoroughfare. And, it should be said that this is a particularly grand example. Flanking the main and side entrances are two, count ‘em two, guardhouses. Incidentally, a feature that tells us it belonged to a Daimyō of the highest rank and an income of over 100,000 koku; koku being a unit of measurement for rice and wealth.

Kabuki gates

Article posted on Sunday, April, 4th, 2010 at 9:23 am

Everyone has heard of Kabuki, right? Even for people without a particular interest in Japan would know Kabuki is a type of traditional Japanese theatre where beautifully-costumed performers sing & dance to tell a story. Despite living in Japan for over nine years, I don’t know a great deal more than this. It’s just not my cup of cha.

What motivated me to at least check Wikipedia for some background information about Kabuki was the fact that there is a type of Japanese gate also called Kabuki. Let’s break it down.

• Kabuki (theatre) is written as 歌舞伎, with each Chinese character representing Sing, Dance & Skill respectively.
• Kabuki (gate) is written as 冠木. The first character means best or peerless, the second means wood.

As you can now see, the two Kabuki’s are unrelated. This now-obvious bombshell has left me somewhat disappointed. Anyway, moving right along. What does this Kabuki gate actually look like? A picture would quickly put us out of our misery but let me first try to explain. Let’s look at the word “little”, after writing e, you would go back & cross the two t‘s, which I believe is common practice to do in one stroke. That’s what the gate looks like – those two crossed t‘s.

more Japanese gates.