Two circular halls of the Nara Temple give away their design secrets: the Asahi Shimbun

Nara – Carpenters in medieval Japan had some tricks in their forearms that amazed experts even today.

A pair of octagonal circular halls are built in the buildings of the 1,300-year-old Kofukuji Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, using techniques that make them vibrate differently in earthquakes.

The differences in the designs of the two wood structures that produced different vibration properties are now being understood in a scientific context.

This was the first such study conducted on-site although similar vibration studies had been conducted in five-story pagodas and other temple halls.

The scientist who conducted the study says the results have important implications for the integrity of the circular hall buildings that have survived to this day.

The pair consist of the octagonal circular halls of the North Rotunda (Hokuendo), which has been designated a National Treasure by the central government, and the Southern Round Hall (Nanendo), an important cultural property designated by the government.

Kofukuji officials said that the northern rotunda was built to rest the aristocrat Fujiwara no Fuhito (659-720) during the Nara period (710-784) when Nara was the capital of Japan, to be later destroyed in fire and war. The current hall, about 15 meters high, was rebuilt in the 13th century during the Kamakura period (1185-1333).

The Southern Rotunda was the brainchild of the aristocrat Fujiwara no Fuyutsuju (775-826) in the early Heian period (794-1185) but was destroyed by fire on multiple occasions. It was rebuilt in the 18th century during the Edo period (1603-1867).

The southern rotunda hall, which is slightly larger than its northern counterpart, rises to about 22 meters. It is one of the stops on the pilgrimage route “33 temples of western Japan” and features a canopy at the front.

This refers to a portion of the building where there is a tiled roof with an undulating gable outside the circular hall.

The new study was driven by the 2018 North Osaka Prefecture earthquake, which scored 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Nara.

The earthquake had almost no effect on the North Rotunda. But in the south rotunda, dust fell from the ceiling and Buddhist altar fixtures collapsed on their mount, indicating that the shocks were stronger there than in the northern rotunda, sources said.

Kofukuji officials, curious about disagreement, asked Kaori Fujita, a professor of architecture at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School, to investigate the matter.

Fujita took accurate measurements in the two halls, and spent one day in each of them in August of last year. The survey method relates to measuring how buildings shake very slightly in response to factors such as gentle breezes and subtle ground movements.

This method, which is non-destructive, has been used in the study of five-story pagodas and other buildings for nearly a century.

Fujita installed six sensors, each about the size of a tea box, on the floor and ceiling beams in each hall to take dozens of measurements of the acceleration of the vibrations. Each measurement took approximately one to five minutes.

I have tried multiple sensor layouts.

Fujita realized that the southern rotunda had more irregular movements than the northern rotunda due to the presence of a canopy inserted in the first.

The northern rotunda shook as if drawing a circle, just as would be expected of symmetrically shaped buildings, including the five-story pagoda.

In contrast, in the southern circular hall, the circular hall portion was shaken by an approaching circular motion, but the tiered canopy was found to move both length and width. This would likely cause the Southern Rotunda to vibrate in an uneven manner when viewed as a whole.

Fujita said that the shocks from the earthquake in northern Osaka Prefecture appeared to have had a greater impact on the Southern Round Hall partly because of the different sizes of the halls and also because of the different vibration characteristics.

“Similar studies on five-story wooden temples have been compiled to some extent across Japan, but so far I have not been able to find similar scientific measurements in a traditional octagonal wooden circular hall,” Fujita said. “I think my study is important to the structural studies of wooden buildings.”

Fortunately, Fujita said, “Kufukuji contained two octagonal halls remaining alive in their buildings.”

***

The Southern Rotunda will open on October 17 for a special show once a year from 9 am to noon and 2 pm to 5 pm to allow members of the public to witness the marvels of the Cultural Hall, including the statue of Fukukensaku Kannon (Amoghapasa) the deity, identified on It is a national treasure.

Another special opening is scheduled for the North Rotunda from 9am to 5pm every day from October 24 through November 8. Entrance fees will be 300 yen ($ 2.85) on both occasions.

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