When the _samurai _warriors of the Kamakura era (1185-- 1333) assumed power, they did not immediately disown the architectural styles of the Heian nobles, but merely added (or, in some cases, removed) features in response to their martial needs and their new Zen outlook. As the country was at war, there was no logic in detached rooms and open galleries, and the _samurai _immediately tightened up the design, putting the entire house under one roof. They eliminated the pond and added a surrounding board fence for protection, even as interior curtains and hinged doors were replaced by sliding doors of paper over a wooden frame. And as rooms became more clearly identified, they were defined in terms of function. The early influence of Zen was seen most noticeably in the gradual disappearance of the ornamental aspects of _shinden _design as the _samurai _came to prize austerity and frugality. During the Ashikaga era (1333-1573) which followed, when Zen monks assumed the role of advisers and scribes for the illiterate military rulers, a special writing desk, called a _shoin_, appeared in the houses of the more influential _samurai_. The _shoin _was a window alcove with a raised sill, which overlooked a private garden and was used by the monks for reading and writing. Next to this was a _chigai-dana_, a wall cabinet recessed in a niche and used for storing papers and writing, utensils. (These new domestic appointments had been lifted by the Zen monks directly from the chief abbot's study in Chinese Ch'an monasteries.) The _shoin _study room immediately became a focus of fashion among the _samurai_, even those who could neither read nor write, and before long it was the finest room in a house. Guests began to be received there and another feature from Zen monasteries was added: the art-display alcove, or tokonoma. (In Chinese Ch'an monasteries the _tokonoma _was a special shrine before which monks burned incense, drank ceremonial tea, and contemplated religious artwork. That such a shrine should appear in a reception room of a social-climbing _samurai_'s house is vivid testimony to the pervasive influence of the Zen monk advisers.) The _samurai_ also added an entry vestibule called a _genkan_, still another feature drawn from Zen temples. As a result of all these additions and modifications, _shinden_ architecture was completely transformed into a functional _samurai _house whose style became known as _shoin_. Forgotten were the Chinese tile roofs and vermilion paint; thatch and unfinished woods reappeared. Paradoxically, the supplanting of _shinden _design by _shoin _was in many ways merely the ousting of a T'ang Chinese style by a Sung Chinese style. However, the T'ang architecture had been that of the Chinese court, whereas the Sung was drawn from Ch'an monasteries and coincidentally contained many of the aesthetic ideals of the earlier native Japanese dwellings and shrines.