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Daibutsuden's Impact On Japan Political Climate Change

1008 Words5 Pages

The Daibutsuden is one of the greatest examples of an individual building that has evolved over time in response to an ever-changing political climate. From its creation, to the renovated structure that still stands today, Daibutsuden has embodied the values of the Japanese ruling class (during their reign). This religious structure has a long history, as it has been around for over 1300 years. It has been rebuilt numerous times, and in each case it showcased (represented) the new technologies that had been developed during times of political redevelopment. It was first constructed during the Nara period (710 AD), in the capital city of Nara, for the Buddhist temple complex called Tōdai-ji. After Daibutsuden burned to the ground during the …show more content…

The Meiji period in Japan was an era of change. The period “saw the semi-closed military and bureaucratic state of the Tokugawa shogunate replaced with a Westernizing nation under a restored imperial authority” (Coaldrake 208). Due to this shift in authority, a new society and environment had been established to express the ambitions of the new government. The most groundbreaking change that occurred during this time period was the abolishment of Japan’s isolation. The Meiji government opened Japan up to influence from the European world, and actively sought out to westernize the country. The Japanese government quickly adopted Western technologies, and many Japanese scholars and tradesmen studied Western teachings. In doing so, the Meiji period experience a near abandonment of traditional Japanese architecture in replacement for purely Western styles. William Coaldrake, author of Architecture and Authority in Japan, explains, “The driving force in the transfer of Western architectural styles and engineering technology to the new state was the authority of the government and the growing power of the commercial and industrial sector” (209). Japan rapidly industrialized in hopes to prove themselves a modern nation. This is greatly reflected in the architecture of the time.
Most of the architecture that came out of the Meiji period was purely Westernized, and showed no trace of Japan’s past. Buildings such as the Akasaka Palace and the Ministry of Justice Building in Tokyo, encompassed many Western architectural styles like Neo-classical and Baroque. While many tend dismiss the architecture of the Meiji era because it is so familiar to the architecture of the west, Japan’s adoption of Western styles drastically changed the way buildings were designed and

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