Karamon Gate

One of the gate styles in Japanese architecture. Karahafu is a gable that has an inverted curve with the upper half convex and the lower half concave, and gates with karahafu are collectively called karamon. There are two types of karamon: mukai karamon, which has a karahafu on the front, and hira karamon, which has a karahafu on the gable. There are munakado gates, which have a roof supported by only two pillars, shikyakumon, which have two main pillars in the center and two supporting pillars at the front and back, and hakkyakumon, which has three bays in front and pillars at the front and back, but the simplest karamon are mukai karamon and hira karamon, which are simply ridgemon with a karahafu attached. Because mukai karamon are deep, they often have two pillars at the front and back, but hira karamon are almost always ridgemon. There are karahafu gates that are only installed on part of the eaves, and among the four-legged gates, there are those that only have karahafu at the center, such as the Karamon at Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto, and those that have karahafu on the entire eaves, such as the Karamon at Nishi Honganji Temple in Kyoto. Additionally, four-legged gates with flat karahafu can be seen at Tosho-gu shrines around the country. The main Karamon gate at Nikko Tosho-gu Shrine is particularly magnificent, with karahafu on all four sides, both the front and the sides. A well-known example of an eight-legged gate with karahafu is the Yashamon Gate at Daiyuin Reibyo at Rinno-ji Temple in Nikko. Eaves karahafu have the effect of allowing rain to flow down both sides and not over the eaves, so they were often used at entrances and exits.

[Kudou Yoshiaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本建築における門の様式の一つ。上半が凸、下半が凹の反転する曲線になる破風(はふ)を唐破風といい、この唐破風のつけられた門を総称して唐門という。唐門には正面に唐破風をみせる向(むかい)唐門と、妻に唐破風をつける平(ひら)唐門とがある。門には柱が2本だけ立って屋根をのせる棟門(むなかど)、中央に2本の本柱を立て前後に2本ずつ控柱を立てる四脚(しきゃく)門、さらに正面を3間とし、前後に柱を立てる八脚(はっきゃく)門があるが、唐門でももっとも簡単なものは棟門に唐破風をつけただけの向唐門、平唐門である。向唐門は奥行が深くなるため、前後に2本ずつ柱を立てるものが多いが、平唐門はほとんど棟門である。唐破風には軒(のき)先の一部だけに設けられる軒唐破風があり、四脚門の向唐門には京都・大徳寺唐門のように中央だけ軒唐破風をつけたものや、京都・西本願寺唐門のように軒全面を唐破風とするものがある。また、四脚門の平唐門は各地の東照宮でみられる。なかでも日光東照宮の正面唐門は正面・側面とも四面に唐破風をつけて豪華である。八脚門で軒唐破風をつけたものとしては日光・輪王寺(りんのうじ)大猷院霊廟(だいゆういんれいびょう)の夜叉(やしゃ)門が著名である。軒唐破風をつけると、雨は両わきに流れて軒先から落ちない効果があり、軒唐破風は出入口に盛んに用いられた。

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