Mon (architecture)

is a generic Japanese term for gate often used, either alone or as a suffix, in referring to the many gates used by Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and traditional-style buildings and castles.

Significance

Unlike gates of secular buildings, most temple and shrine gates are purely symbolic elements of liminality, as they cannot be completely closed and just mark the transition between the mundane and the sacred. In many cases, for example that of the ''sanmon'', a temple gate has purifying, cleansing properties.

Description

Gate size is measured in '' ken'', where a ''ken'' is the interval between two pillars of a traditional-style building. A temple's '' rōmon'' for example can have dimensions from a maximum of 5x2 ''ken'' to a more common 3x2 ''ken'', down to even one ''ken''. The word is usually translated in English as "bay" and is better understood as an indication of proportions than as a unit of measurement.

Like the temples they belong to, gates can be in the ''wayō'', ''daibutsuyō'', '' zen'yō'' or ''setchūyō'' style.
They can be named after:
* Their location, as the or of the or the .
* The deity they house, as the '' Niōmon'' (lit. "Niō gate", see below), a gate enshrining two gods called Niō in its outer bays.
* Their structure or shape, as the '' nijūmon'' (lit. "two-story gate", see below) and the ''rōmon'' (lit. tower gate).
* Their function, as the ''sanmon'' (see below), which is the most important gate of a Zen or Jōdo temple.

Not all such terms are mutually exclusive and the same gate may be called with different names according to the situation. For example, a ''Niōmon'' can also be correctly called a ''nijūmon'' if it has two stories.

Variations

Very different structurally from the others is the ''toriimon'' (normally called simply ''torii''), a two-legged gate in stone or wood regularly associated with Shinto, but common also within Japanese Buddhist temples. As prominent a temple as Osaka's Shitennō-ji, founded in 593 by Shōtoku Taishi and the oldest state-built Buddhist temple in the country, has a ''torii'' straddling one of its entrances. The origins of the ''torii'' are unknown; although several theories on the subject exist, none has gained universal acceptance. Because the use of symbolic gates is widespread in Asia—such structures can be found for example in India, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, and within Nicobarese and Shompen villages—historians believe it may be an imported tradition. It most often symbolically marks the entrance of a Shinto shrine. For this reason, it is never closed.

Common types

* – so called because of its eight secondary pillars, which support four main pillars standing under the gate's ridge. It therefore really has twelve pillars altogether.
* – A gate in a wall consisting in just two square posts.
* – A gate in a wall formed by two square posts and a horizontal beam.
* – A gate characterized by a '' karahafu'', an undulating bargeboard peculiar to Japan. ''Karamon'' are used at Japanese castles, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.
* – Used at castles, temples and ''daimyō'' residences, it consists of a tiled, gabled roof on two pillars, plus two smaller roofs over the on the rear of the gate.
* . A defensive structure consisting in a courtyard along the wall of a castle with two gates set at a square angle, one giving access to the castle and one facing the outside. The external gate is typically a ''kōraimon'', the internal one a ''yaguramon''. The Sakuradamon at Tokyo's Imperial Palace is such a gate.
* – A gate formed by two pillars sustaining a gabled roof. Similar to a ''kōraimon'', but lacking the roofed secondary pillars.
* lit. ''nagaya'' gate – A ''nagaya'', literally a long house, was a row house where low status samurai used to live, and the ''nagayamon'' was a gate that allowed traffic from one side of the structure to the other.
*'' Nijūmon'' – A two-storied gate with a pent roof between the two stories. Distinguishable from the similar ''rōmon'' for having a pent roof between stories.
*'' Niōmon'' – A gate enshrining in its two outer bays the statues of two warden gods, the Niō.
*'' Rōmon'' – A two-storied, single roofed gate where the second story is inaccessible and offers no usable room. Distinguishable from the similar ''nijūmon'' for not having a pent roof between stories.
*''Sanmon'' – The most important gate of a Japanese Zen Buddhist temple. Also used by other schools, particularly the Jōdo. Its importance notwithstanding, the ''sanmon'' is not the first gate of the temple, and in fact it usually stands between the ''sōmon'' (outer gate) and the '' butsuden'' (lit. "Hall of Buddha", i.e. the main hall).
*'' Sōmon'' – the gate at the entrance of a temple.Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version It often precedes the bigger and more important ''sanmon''.
*''Torii'' – This distinctive symbolic gate is usually associated with Shinto shrines; however, it is common at Buddhist temples too, as most have at least one.
* – Gates opened in a castle wall. Because they were used to connect surfaces at different levels, they looked as if they were buried in the ground.
* – A gate with a '' yagura'' on top.
* – A gate having no pillars under the ridge of its gabled gate, and supported by four pillars at its corners.
* – so called because of its four secondary pillars which support two main pillars standing under the gate's ridge. It therefore really has six pillars.

Photo gallery

File:Horyu-ji02s3200.jpg, ''Hakkyakumon''
File:Heijuumon.jpg, ''Heijūmon''
File:Kara-mon Gate of Nishi Hongwanji.JPG, ''Karamon''
File:Sasaymajo kabukimon.jpg, ''Kabukimon''
File:SakuradaGate2.jpg, ''Kōraimon'', outside
File:Matsumoto Castle09n4592.jpg, ''Kōraimon'', inside
File:Wakayama Yosuien19n4272.jpg, ''Munamon''
File:Nagayamon of Oishi House Ako01n3200.jpg, ''Nagayamon''
File:Hagiwaraji 02.JPG, ''Niōmon''
File:Tofukuji-Sanmon-M9589.jpg, Tōfuku-ji's ''sanmon'' is a ''nijūmon''
File:Udo Jingu Roumon.jpg, ''Rōmon''. Note the absence of stairs to the second story.
File:Hannyaji Romon01.cropped.jpg, This ''shikyakumon'' is also a ''rōmon''.　Note the absence of stairs to the second story.
File:Tatsuno castle03s1960.jpg, An ''uzumimon''
File:Toyooka City Library04st3200.jpg, ''Yakuimon''
File:KawanoeJo-Fukugen-YaguraMon.jpg, ''Yaguramon''
File:Entrance to Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine.jpg, A red ''torii'' at the entrance of a Shinto shrine

References

{{Shinto shrine

Japanese architectural features
Japanese Buddhist architecture
Shinto architecture