NIPPON Kichi - 日本吉

2006/12/18

雷門 Kaminari-mon Kaminari-mon Gate

Jp En


Kaminari-mon Gate, famous as the icon of Asakusa, is the outer gate of Senso-ji, the oldest standing temple in Japan.  Kaminari-mon is its commonly known name, its formal name being “Fuuraijin-mon”.  Fuujin means the Wind God and Raijin the Thunder God. Statues of those two gods are enshrined in the temple; Fuujin on the right side of the gate and Raijin on the left side. They have been worshiped as the Gods of bountiful harvest since ancient times.

The Gate was first built in 942. Subsequently it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt a number of times. From 1865 for next 95 years, the Gate didn’t even exist. When the technology of using concrete to build Japanese style houses was introduced, the Gate was reconstructed in 1960 with reinforced concrete.

The architectural style is Kirizuma-zukuri, gable roof, using the Hongawarabuki tile style in which round and square tiles are alternately installed. The frontage of the Gate is 11.8m high and its depth is 6.4m. The gigantic lantern hanging in the middle of the Gate is 4m high, with a diameter of 3.4m and weighing 670kg.

Notable elements are the vermillion color of the Gate, the Gods enshrined in the both sides of the Gate, and the disproportionately big lantern. This differs from Wabi and Sabi, yet this combination of the Gate’s characteristics is also a part of Japanese culture that is very unique in the world.

Add this to Favorites

address
2-3-1 asakusa taito-ku Tokyo ,Japan
name
Kinryuzan Sensouji Kaminarimon




NIPPON Kichi - 日本吉 - 日本語に切り替える NIPPON Kichi - 日本吉 - to english

"Nippon-kichi" leads you to places, people and things that reveal a certain Japanese aesthetic.

Articles: 5444
Categories
Prefectures
Keywords shuffle
Favorites
Keywords Search
View history



Linkclub NewsLetter