Zenshūyō

Named after the Zen sect of Buddhism which brought it to Japan, it emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century.

Together with Wayō and Daibutsuyō, it is one of the three most significant styles developed by Japanese Buddhism on the basis of Chinese models.

[1] Its most typical features are a more or less linear layout of the garan, paneled doors hanging from hinges, intercolumnar tokyō, cusped windows, tail rafters, ornaments called kibana, and decorative pent roofs.

[2] Kōzan-ji's butsuden in Shimonoseki, Zenpuku-in's shaka-dō in Kainan, Wakayama and Anraku-ji's pagoda in Ueda, Nagano, all dating to the Kamakura period, are considered the three most important Zenshūyō buildings.

At the end of the 12th century, more or less while in Nara Chōgen was rebuilding Tōdai-ji, and in the process was creating the architectural style that would later be called Daibutsuyō, two monks were introducing Zen to Japan.

Unlike Eisai, he declined the support of Kamakura's regent Hōjō Tokiyori and open his head temple, Eihei-ji, within the forests of today's Fukui prefecture.

As a consequence, the Zen garan has a typical elongated and bilaterally symmetrical layout where each building's shape, position, scale and use are predetermined.

[3] To the contrary, older schools like Tendai and Shingon use more irregular building dispositions which take into account terrain characteristics.

During the Heian period temples were built using only non-penetrating tie beams (nageshi (長押)) made to fit around columns and pillars, then nailed.

[2] Typical of the style is also the main hall (butsuden), which has just one story but seems to have two because of the presence of a roofed corridor called mokoshi.