List of National Treasures of Japan (temples)
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. The temple structures in this list 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 155 entries of national treasure temple structures from the late 7th-century Classical Asuka period to the early modern 19th-century Edo period. The number of structures listed is more than 155, because in some cases groups of related structures are combined to form a single entry. The structures include main halls such as kon-dō, hon-dō, Butsuden; pagodas, gates, belfries (鐘楼, shōrō?), corridors, other halls and structures that are part of a Buddhist temple.
Buddhism arrived in Japan in the mid–6th century, and was officially adopted in the wake of the Battle of Shigisan in 587, after which Buddhist temples began to be constructed.Soga no Umako built Hōkō-ji, the first temple in Japan, between 588 and 596. It was later renamed as Asuka-dera for Asuka, the name of the capital where it was located. Prince Shotoku actively promoted Buddhism and ordered the construction of Shitennō-ji in Osaka (593) and Hōryū-ji near his palace in Ikaruga (completed in 603). During the ancient period, the temple layout was strictly prescribed and followed mainland styles, with a main gate facing south, and the most sacred area surrounded by a semi-enclosed roofed corridor (kairō) accessible through a middle gate (chūmon). The sacred precinct contained a pagoda, which acted as a reliquary for sacred objects, and an image hall (kon-dō). The complex might have other structures such as a lecture hall (kōdō), a belfry (shōrō), a sutra repository (kyōzō), priests' and monks' quarters and bathhouses. The ideal temple had a heart formed by seven structures—called Shichidō garan. Buddhism, and the construction of temples, spread from the capital to outlying areas in the Hakuhō period from 645 to 710. Because of fire, earthquakes, typhoons and wars, few of the ancient temples remain. Hōryū-ji, rebuilt after a fire in 670, is the only temple with 7th century structures which are the oldest extant wooden buildings in the world.
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