One of the most significant developments of the early 17th century was the development of a modular system (kiwari) for constructing traditional buildings, whereby component parts were prefabricated at the carpenter's workshop and assembled on site.

The Edo period produced few noteworthy new architectural styles, with perfection of technique and large-scale construction taking precedence over creativity.

With the onset of peace and relative prosperity, temple pilgrimages grew in popularity, and accordingly temple buildings were increased in size to accommodate visitors. An excellent example is the massive hondo of Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto, reconstructed in 1633, which stands as a fine example of the kake-zukuri or overhang method of construction.

The arrival of Obaku (Chinese huang bo) Zen Buddhism from China in the mid 17th century was accompanied by a further wave of Chinese temple architecture based on Ming- (1368-1644) and Qing- (1644-1912) dynasty styles. The earliest example was the main hall (dayuhoden) of Sofuku-ji Temple in Nagasaki, which was constructed by the city’s Chinese community in 1646.

In 1661 Chinese monk Yinyuan Longqi founded Mampuku-ji Temple in Uji as the headquarters of the Obaku school, and in 1671 his successor Muyan established a second temple, Zuisho-ji Temple in Edo (Tokyo).

The typical Obaku main hall features a tiled hip-and-gable roof with strongly-curved eaves and an extended, though less strongly-curved mokoshi (lean-to pent roof), which gives the building the look of a multi-storey structure. The bracket complexes, decorative nosing, rainbow beams and wall plates are typically Chinese in style. Other noteworthy characteristics include round windows and half doors which allow worshippers to pray to the Buddha images even when the temple is closed.

One of the most noteworthy architectural developments of the Edo period was the development of a style of Shinto shrine architecture known as gongen-zukuri, in which the principal buildings were connected to each other in an ‘H’ shape by a stone-paved corridor called the ishinoma.

Originally founded in 1617 as a small mountain shrine to house the ashes of first shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, Tosho-gu Shrine was rebuilt on a much larger scale in 1636 by his grandson, the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. A masterpiece of craftsmanship, it incorporates 24 buildings, most of which are covered inside and out with gold leaf and red lacquer and decorated with brightly-painted carvings. In a perfect illustration of the gongen-zukuri style, the honden (main hall) and haiden (oratory hall) are linked together in an H-shaped layout by a stone-paved corridor or ishinoma.

Nearby is the Taiyuin-byo Shrine, a mausoleum built in Nikko in 1653 for Iemitsu himself. Though just as ornate as Tosho-gu, it is smaller and generally considered more elegant and aesthetically pleasing. The shrine’s three main buildings – the honden (main hall), the ainoma (middle room) and the haiden (oratory hall) – are again linked to each other by covered corridors.

In 1999 Tosho-gu and Taiyuin-byo, together with Futarasan-jinja Shrine and Rinno-ji Temple and their natural surroundings were collectively inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Nikko Shrines and Temples World Heritage Site.