Architecture in Japan
Materials

Japan has a moist climate and its frequent earthquakes call for a durable building material.
Due to the (former) abundance of forest in Japan, wood was the material of choice for millennia. Not only was wood easy to find, it is well suited to the warm, moist climate of Japan and could withstand cold. Wood kept its inhabitants warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. But most importantly, wood was extremely flexible in earthquake.

However, as the population of Japan continued to grow, the natural resources - including wood - became less easy to find.