Earthquake Response Monitoring and Structural Analysis of Traditional Japanese Timber Temple

Abstract

This paper introduces the recent attempts to clarify the seismic behavior of traditional timber architecture. The subject of the research is a timber temple, Kencho-ji, in Japan, designated as important cultural property. The temple was affected by the Great Kanto Earthquake 1923. There are two main halls in the Kencho-ji temple, and one of them collapsed while the other slightly inclined. The two main halls have similar structures, and stand next to each other. The authors have been trying to clarify the reason for the difference in the damage for the past ten years through on-sight measurement, micro tremor test, earthquake monitoring and structural analysis. As there is very few information concerning the hidden detail of the joints, recently the authors have operated X-ray inspection. The paper introduces the result of the X-ray test and the structural analysis using the result of the newly revealed hidden joint is discussed.