DOI Heft:
Nr. 214 (January 1911)
DOI Artikel:Harada, Jirō: Japanese temples and their treasures
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20971#0323
Japanese Temples and their Treasures
fresco painting in the Temple Horyuji, one sees
the best specimen of a style of painting that existed
ages ago in India. Among the treasures of the
Temple Yakushiji, many splendid examples of
old Chinese art are preserved intact. With all
the foreign influences and examples at work at
different times we always perceive the transforming
and assimilating character of the Japanese genius.
No matter how novel, how strange the form of the
new movement, nor how powerful is the effect in
the land of its adoption, it is always digested,
modified and transformed, always made a part of
the Japanese life and its manifestations. And in
these volumes it is extremely interesting and in-
structive to trace to what a great extent Japan has
succeeded in nationalising the art, the inspiration
and materials for which have been first imported.
From the reproductions of Japanese architecture,
which consist mainly of Shinto shrines and Buddhist
temples, one is enabled to trace how the inherent
religion of Japan was affected by the introduction
of Buddhism, how the new religion predominated,
and how the two opposing religions were ulti-
mately harmonised in consonance with the native
peculiarities of the people.
In the shrine of Ise, which is rebuilt every
twenty years in its original form in every detail, we
find a splendid example of the simplicity of the
early Shinto architecture. The shrine of Izumo,
shown in our illustration (page 299), and those of
Atsuta and Sumiyoshi, are some of the other ex-
amples of that style. In them one cannot help
admiring the simple beauty of the lines, especially
of the roofs. To those who are familiar with them
as they stand in Japan, the illustrations of the
work under notice will serve to recall how deeply
impressive is their effect in their proper setting.
A notable example is furnished by the Inner
Shrine of Ise, which is surrounded by an ancient
grove of imposing cryptomerias and gigantic cam-
phor trees, through which the light of day cannot
penetrate, and to which the heat of summer has no
access. Very great is the impression wrought on
the mind by such surroundings, more especially
on the mind of the nature-loving Japanese. The
extreme simplicity of the architecture is in perfect
INTERIOR OF THE UPPER STORY OF THE SANMON, OR HOLY GATEWAY, TOFUKUJI
3°2
fresco painting in the Temple Horyuji, one sees
the best specimen of a style of painting that existed
ages ago in India. Among the treasures of the
Temple Yakushiji, many splendid examples of
old Chinese art are preserved intact. With all
the foreign influences and examples at work at
different times we always perceive the transforming
and assimilating character of the Japanese genius.
No matter how novel, how strange the form of the
new movement, nor how powerful is the effect in
the land of its adoption, it is always digested,
modified and transformed, always made a part of
the Japanese life and its manifestations. And in
these volumes it is extremely interesting and in-
structive to trace to what a great extent Japan has
succeeded in nationalising the art, the inspiration
and materials for which have been first imported.
From the reproductions of Japanese architecture,
which consist mainly of Shinto shrines and Buddhist
temples, one is enabled to trace how the inherent
religion of Japan was affected by the introduction
of Buddhism, how the new religion predominated,
and how the two opposing religions were ulti-
mately harmonised in consonance with the native
peculiarities of the people.
In the shrine of Ise, which is rebuilt every
twenty years in its original form in every detail, we
find a splendid example of the simplicity of the
early Shinto architecture. The shrine of Izumo,
shown in our illustration (page 299), and those of
Atsuta and Sumiyoshi, are some of the other ex-
amples of that style. In them one cannot help
admiring the simple beauty of the lines, especially
of the roofs. To those who are familiar with them
as they stand in Japan, the illustrations of the
work under notice will serve to recall how deeply
impressive is their effect in their proper setting.
A notable example is furnished by the Inner
Shrine of Ise, which is surrounded by an ancient
grove of imposing cryptomerias and gigantic cam-
phor trees, through which the light of day cannot
penetrate, and to which the heat of summer has no
access. Very great is the impression wrought on
the mind by such surroundings, more especially
on the mind of the nature-loving Japanese. The
extreme simplicity of the architecture is in perfect
INTERIOR OF THE UPPER STORY OF THE SANMON, OR HOLY GATEWAY, TOFUKUJI
3°2