Nijūmon

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Nijūmon (二重門) means “two-story gate” and is one of the two main types of two-story gates you see at Japanese Buddhist temples—the other is rōmon. The nijūmon is easy to spot because a roof on the first floor wraps around the entire upper story, and it has brackets (tokyō) supporting the eaves on both levels. In a rōmon, the brackets support a balcony instead.

The tokyō on a nijūmon are usually three-stepped (mitesaki) with tail rafters at the third step, and the gate is normally covered by a hip-and-gable roof. Unlike the rōmon, the second story of a nijūmon is accessible by stairs. Some nijūmon end with two sanrō structures that contain the stairs.

Inside the second story, you’ll often find statues of Shakyamuni or the goddess Kannon and the 16 Rakan, and the space is used for ceremonies. Size varies: large nijūmon are about 5 bays wide and 2 bays deep with three entrances (Tokyo’s Zōjō-ji gate is 5 by 3 bays). Smaller nijūmon are around 3 by 2 bays and may have one to three entrances.

Nijūmon has a high status among temple gates, and it is used for important gates like the chūmon (middle gate) of old temples such as Hōryū-ji. The sanmon, the gate of a Zen temple of the highest prestige, is usually a nijūmon. Some nijūmon are even called chūmon because they sit between the temple entrance and the main temple.