Abstract
The Shindenzukuri residence is renowned for its open colonnaded space, and it has greatly influenced later Japanese houses. This paper discusses the origin of the Shindenzukuri and how it was formed, based on historical sources on ancient palaces and aristocratic residences.
Firstly, we shall compare the Oldest Genji-Monogatari scroll paintings (12th century) and drawings found in Ruijuzatsuyosho (12th century). The analysis has revealed that the Shindenzukuri residence rarely had walls or windows, unlike houses in Nara period. It is, therefore, suggested that the spatial openness of aristocratic residence in Heian period is the origin of open interior space employed in Japanese houses. Secondly, it is important to examine shitsurai (decoration suited for certain purposes) as well as shitsurai in Nara period. Through the analysis, I clarified that the main building of the Shindenzukuri residence obtained the spatial openness because of ceremonies, especially Shogatsu-daikyo (banquets held during the New Year), and not by the request from the daily lifestyle.
From section three onwards, I compared the ancient palatial architecture and the Shindenzukuri residence. I demonstrated that the spatial layout of the Shindenzukuri: Shinden, Watadono, and Chumonro were similar to buildings used for ceremonies in ancient palaces, particularly in the main hall (Shishinden) of the inner court called Dairi. Since a key to understanding the development of the Shindenzukuri seems to be ceremonies, I examined ceremonies took place in palaces in the early Heian period. Textual sources reveal that banquets (enkai) held outside Dairi (e.g. Burakuin and Shinsenen), started to take place inside Dairi from the mid-ninth century. As a result, officials below the sixth rank, who were not allowed to enter Dairi, could not join the banquets.
While banquets in Dairi excluded many officials, ministers organized the Shogatsu-daikyo in their houses and invited all the officials working at Dajyokan (the office of the secular affairs). The host of these banquets were the crown princes and the envoy of Emperor delivered cheese and chestnuts for the banquets. This involvement of imperial family show that Shogatsu-daikyo covered the imperial banquets where the lower officials could not join. Since the Shogatsu-daikyo was the banquet which compensated for the imperial banquets, the ceremonies of Shogatsu-daikyo had to be similar to those in the palace. The ministers' residences for Shogatsu-daikyo had to correspond to the space for the imperial banquets which was composed of the colonnaded hall and the ceremonial court. Thus, the open colonnaded space was introduced into the Shindenzukuri residence.
As the Shindenzukuri residence was an architecture formed by the open colonnaded space, it was not suitable for living. Here lies an issue that people had to tackle to solve this difficulty. In the latter half of the tenth century, sliding doors were invented, and they developed the spatial structure of Japanese houses dramatically. In the end of the fifteenth century, the Shoinzukuri style was established where almost all rooms were enclosed by the sliding doors instead of the walls, and such spatial organization became the most common way to construct the Japanese domestic architecture.
