Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/614

 500 JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE. BOOK IX. or with that generally known as polygonal masonry, in which blocks of irregular shape are closely fitted to one another. Towers built at the angles are used for military stores, and ancient prints show that originally stout timber palisades (Fr. Jwurds) surmounted the wall between the towers, behind which were frequently the soldiers' barracks as at Nagoya. The palaces, like the temples, are all of one storey only, the floor being raised from 4 to 8 ft. above the ground, and externally, in their design, belong to the T*ing type with Primoya gables like those in the temples. In plan they consist of a number of blocks put in communication one with the other by covered corridors, not arranged symmetrically like those in the Forbidden City of Pekin, but disposed so as to overlook gardens and small lakes. The principal difference externally, when compared with the temples, lies in the less height and much flatter pitch given to the roof, so much so that they are not concave in section, the roofs having generally one uniform slope. Although externally the blocks have the appearance of constituting a single hall, they are usually subdivided by sliding screens into several rooms ; thus the residential block of the Imperial Palace at Ki6-to, measuring about 100 ft. by 60 ft, is divided by partitions into fourteen rooms, the centre one of which lighted only through the outer rooms, constituted the Mikado's sleeping apartment. The three rooms on one side of this block form a suite in which the floors are raised slightly one above the other, the further and highest room furnished with a raised dais indicating the position of the Imperial Throne. Access to all the rooms in a subdivided block is obtained by the external verandah which constitutes the principal feature in all Japanese houses. Although in the great reception rooms the floors consist of polished boards, in the residential portions they are covered with mats (Ken) about 3 in. thick, 6 ft. by 3 ft. in ordinary houses, and 7 ft. by 3 ft. 6 in. in the Imperial Palace, and the dimensions of each room is noted by the number of mats covering it. In one of the blocks of the palace used for enjoying the cool breezes after the summer rain, the largest of the four rooms into which it is subdivided has only four mats, and is about 14 ft. by n ft. a small room for a palace. Whilst the sliding screens which divide the rooms are about 7 ft. high, the rooms are about twice that height, covered with coffered ceilings and coves round. The decorations in the Mikado's palace contrast strongly with those in the temples, which are always richly lacquered, painted, and gilded, whereas in the palace plain white wood with gilt bronze mounts is employed, the walls being painted with flowers and other decorations by the great artists of Japan. The palaces of the Shdguns or military