Kairō (回廊 or 廻廊), bu (廡), sōrō or horō (歩廊) is the Japanese version of a cloister, a covered corridor originally built around the most sacred area of a Buddhist temple, a zone which contained the kondō and the tō.
[1] The kairō and the rōmon were among the most important among the garan elements which appeared during the Heian period.
[2] The earliest example of a kairō/rōmon complex can be found at Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū, a shrine now but a former shrine-temple (神宮寺).
The 1-bay wide type is supported by just two rows of pillars and is therefore called tanrō (単廊, lit.
The 2-bay wide type is supported by three rows of pillars, is called fukurō (複廊, lit.