About Komainu

Komainu (狛犬), often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures either guarding the entrance or the honden, or inner shrine of many Japanese Shinto shrines or kept inside the inner shrine itself, where they are not visible to the public. The first type, born during the Edo period, is called sandō komainu , the second and much older type jinnai komainu . They can sometimes be found also at Buddhist temples, nobility residences or even private homes.
Engaku-ji, a building with old-style katōmado

Japanese Buddhist architectonic solutions

Japanese Buddhist architecture is the architecture of Buddhist temples in Japan, consisting of locally developed variants of architectural styles born in China. After Buddhism arrived the continent via Three Kingdoms of Korea in the 6th century, an effort was initially made to reproduce original buildings as faithfully as possible, but gradually local versions of continental styles were developed both to meet Japanese tastes and to solve problems posed by local weather, which is more .
Buddha statue in Borobudur (Indonesia), the world's largest Buddhist temple.

Different types of Buddhist architecture

Buddhist religious architecture developed in the Indian subcontinent. Three types of structures are associated with the religious architecture of early Buddhism: (viharas), places to venerate relics (), and shrines or prayer halls, which later came to be called in some places. The initial function of a was the veneration and safe-guarding of the relics of Gautama Buddha. The earliest archaeologically known example of a stupa is the relic stupa located in Vaishali, .