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Suzakumon
The was the main gate built in the center of the south end of the imperial palaces in the Japanese ancient capitals of Fujiwara-kyō (Kashihara), Heijō Kyō, Heijō-kyō (Nara, Nara, Nara), and later Kyoto, Heian-kyō (Kyoto). The placement followed the ancient Chinese palace model requirements at the time, where , the Vermilion Bird (Chinese constellation), Vermilion Bird was the Guardian of the South. (''See Four Symbols for more.'') It was said to be the site where foreign dignitaries were received by the Emperor. All of them were destroyed centuries ago along with the old imperial residences. Nara Suzakumon In 1993, it was decided that the gate of Nara would be reconstructed. It proved extremely difficult to work out what Suzakumon had looked like, as there were no surviving structural remnants. A conjectural model was developed, based on comparable architecture elsewhere, and the new gate was constructed from a mixture of traditional building materials (Chamaecyparis obtu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Heijō Palace
was the imperial residence in the Japanese capital city Heijō-kyō (today's Nara), during most of the Nara period. The palace, which served as the imperial residence and the administrative centre of for most of the Nara period from 710 to 794 AD, was located at the north-central location of the city in accordance with the Chinese models used for the design of the capital. The palace consisted of a , a large rectangular walled enclosure which contained several ceremonial and administrative buildings including the government ministries. Inside this enclosure was the separately walled residential compound of the emperor or the ''Inner Palace''. In addition to the emperor's living quarters the Inner Palace contained the residences of the imperial consorts as well as certain official and ceremonial buildings more closely linked to the person of the emperor. The original role of the palace was to manifest the centralised government model adopted by Japan from China in the 7th ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Rajōmon
, also called , was the gate built at the southern end of the monumental Suzaku Avenue in the ancient Japanese cities of Heijō-kyō (Nara) and Heian-kyō (Kyoto), in accordance with the Chinese grid-patterned city layout. At the other far north-end of Suzaku Avenue, one would reach the Suzakumon Gate, the main entrance to the palace zone. , the southern end of Suzaku Avenue and the possible remainder of the equivalent gate in Fujiwara-kyō ( Kashihara) are yet to be discovered. Name The gate's name in modern Japanese is ''Rajōmon''. ''Rajō'' (羅城) refers to city walls and ''mon'' (門) means "gate," so ''Rajōmon'' signifies the main city gate. Originally, this gate was known as ''Raseimon'' or ''Raiseimon'', using alternate readings for the kanji in the name. The name ''Rashōmon'', using the kanji 羅生門 (which can also be read ''Raseimon''), was popularized by a noh play Rashōmon (c.1420) written by Kanze Nobumitsu (1435–1516). The modern name, ''Rajōmon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Takenaka Corporation
is one of five major general contractors in Japan. Takenaka provides architectural, engineering, and construction services and has its headquarters located in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture. Takenaka has eight domestic offices in Japan with overseas offices in Asia, Europe, and the United States. It has remained under family control since the founding of Takenaka Corporation in 1609, and is currently led by the 17th generation of the family. The Takenaka corporation designed and built the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum. About Takenaka In 1610 Tobei Masataka Takenaka (竹中 藤兵衛正高), a shrine and temple carpenter, started a business in Nagoya. The business continued as a family business and built some of the first Western-style buildings in Japan during the last half of 19th century, most of them in Nagoya. In 1899 Toemon Takenaka (竹中 藤右衛門), a 14th generation descendant of the original founder established a branch office in Kobe and founded Takenaka C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Nara, Nara
is the capital city of Nara Prefecture, Japan. , Nara has an estimated population of 367,353 according to World Population Review, making it the largest city in Nara Prefecture and sixth-largest in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara is a core city located in the northern part of Nara Prefecture bordering the Kyoto Prefecture. Nara was the capital of Japan during the Nara period from 710 to 784 as the seat of the Emperor before the capital was moved to Nagaoka-kyō, except for the years 740 to 745, when the capital was placed in Kuni-kyō, Naniwa-kyō and Shigaraki Palace. Nara is home to eight major historic temples, shrines, and heritage sites, specifically Tōdai-ji, Saidai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, Kasuga Shrine, Gangō-ji, Yakushi-ji, Tōshōdai-ji, and the Heijō Palace, together with Kasugayama Primeval Forest, collectively form the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Etymology By the Heian period, a variety of different characters had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Fujiwara-kyō
280px, Map of Fujiwara-kyō was the Imperial capital of Japan for sixteen years, between 694 and 710. It was located in Yamato Province (present-day Kashihara in Nara Prefecture), having been moved from nearby Asuka, and remained the capital until its relocation to Heijō-kyō present-day Nara. It was the first in Japanese history to have been a planned city based on a square grid pattern modeled after the Chang'an, the capital of Tang dynasty China. History Per the ''Nihon Shoki'' in the 5th year of Emperor Tenmu's reign (676), the emperor began selecting the site of a new capital. Construction work was carried out over a number of years, based on the different standards of grid-like grids discovered during excavations, and was halted by the emperor's death. It was resumed in 690 under Empress Jitō and continued under the reigns of Emperor Mommu and Empress Genmei. Empress Genmei (661–721) moved the capital from Fujiwara-kyō to Nara (then Heijō-kyō) in 710 mainly t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Kashihara
280px, Kashihara City Hall is a city located in Nara Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 118,674 in 56,013 households, and a population density of 3000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . A number of historical sites in Kashihara are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural Heritage) Tentative List as "The Asuka and Fujiwara Imperial Capitals and Related Properties," including the remains of Fujiwara-kyō, Hon-Yakushi-ji temple ruins, Maruyama Kofun, and the Yamato Sanzan. Geography Kashihara is located at the southern edge of the Nara Basin. The city encompasses the Yamato Sanzan, "the three mountains of Yamato", (, , and ), which are celebrated in Japanese poetry, and have been jointly designated a Place of Scenic Beauty. Surrounding municipalities Nara Prefecture * Gose * Sakurai * Yamatotakada * Kōryō * Tawaramoto * Asuka * Takatori Climate Kashihara has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Heijō Kyō
Heijō may refer to: *Heijō, the Japanese colonial-era name for Pyongyang, the present capital of North Korea *Heijō-kyō was the Capital of Japan during most of the Nara period, from 710 to 740 and again from 745 to 784. The imperial palace is a listed UNESCO World Heritage together with other places in the city of Nara (cf. Historic Monuments of Ancient ..., the ancient Japanese capital located in present-day Nara * Emperor Heijō (773-824) 51st emperor of Japan See also * Heijō Station * {{Disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the List of cities in Japan, ninth-most populous city in Japan. More than half (56.8%) of Kyoto Prefecture's population resides in the city. The city is the cultural anchor of the substantially larger Greater Kyoto, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people. It is also part of the even larger Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area, along with Osaka and Kobe. Kyoto is one of the oldest municipalities in Japan, having been chosen in 794 as the new seat of Japan's imperial court by Emperor Kanmu. The original city, named Heian-kyō, was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang. The emperors of Japan ruled fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Vermilion Bird (Chinese Constellation)
The Vermilion Bird ( zh, c=朱雀, p=Zhūquè) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wu Xing, the Taoist five elemental system, it represents the Fire element, the direction south, and the season of summer correspondingly. Thus it is sometimes called the Vermilion Bird of the South ( zh, c=南方朱雀, p=Nán Fāng Zhū Què). It is described as a red bird that resembles a pheasant with a fire-colored plumage and is perpetually covered in flames. It is known as Suzaku in Japanese, Jujak in Korean and Chu Tước in Vietnamese. It is often mistaken for the Fenghuang due to similarities in appearance, but the two are different creatures. The Fenghuang is a legendary ruler of birds who is associated with the Chinese Empress in the same way the dragon is associated with the Emperor, while the Vermilion Bird is a mythological spirit creature of the Chinese constellations. Seven Mansions of the Vermilion Bird As with the other three Symbols, there a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Four Symbols
The Four Symbols are mythological creatures appearing among the Chinese constellations along the ecliptic, and viewed as the guardians of the four cardinal directions. These four creatures are also referred to by a variety of other names, including "Four Guardians", "Four Gods", and "Four Auspicious Beasts". They are the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise (also called "Black Warrior") of the North. Each of the creatures is most closely associated with a cardinal direction and a color, but also additionally represents other aspects, including a season of the year, an emotion, virtue, and one of the Chinese " five elements" (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water). Each has been given its own individual traits, origin story and a reason for being. Symbolically, and as part of spiritual and religious belief and meaning, these creatures have been culturally important across countries in the Sinosphere. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Chamaecyparis Obtusa
''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate climate, temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and ornamental qualities, with many cultivars commercially available. Description It is a slow-growing tree which may reach tall with a trunk up to in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown. The leaf, leaves are scale-like, long, blunt tipped (obtuse), green above, and green below with a white stomatal band at the base of each scale-leaf. The conifer cone, cones are globose, in diameter, with 8–12 scales arranged in opposite pairs. Related species The plant is widespread in Japan. The related ''Chamaecyparis pisifera'' (sawara cypress) can be readily distinguished in its having pointed tips to the leaves and smaller cones. A similar cypress found on Taiwan is treated by different botanists as either a variety of this species (as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
