Documentation

Japanese Building Generator

Everything about the modifier: installing it, the five buildings, every input, the materials, the two scenes, and how to keep it fast.

Overview

The generator is a Geometry Nodes modifier. It ignores the mesh it sits on and builds a complete building at the object's origin: stone base, storeys with pillars, walls, windows and balconies, bracketed eaves, curved tiled roofs with gables and ornaments, and the materials for all of it.

The five buildings (Japanese Building 1 – Castle to 5 – Temple Hall) are copies of the same node group with different defaults and materials, marked as assets. Japanese Building Generator is the generic group they come from.

Installation

There is no add-on to install. Unzip the download and keep the folder together:

`japanese_building_generator.blend`	The node groups, materials and both scenes.
`textures/`	2K ambientCG maps, linked with relative paths. Keep it next to the .blend.

Use it in your own files

Asset library (recommended): Edit › Preferences › File Paths › Asset Libraries, add the folder. The five buildings appear in the Asset Browser with previews, in any file. Set the library's import method to Append (Reuse Data) so materials are not duplicated.
Append: File › Append, open the .blend, go into NodeTree and pick a building. Its materials come with it.

If textures show up pink after you move files, use File › External Data › Find Missing Files and point it at the textures folder.

Quick start

Add any mesh object, for example a cube (Shift A › Mesh › Cube).
Drag a building from the Asset Browser onto it. Or: Properties › Modifiers › Add Modifier › Geometry Nodes, then pick Japanese Building 1 – Castle from the node group list.
The building appears at the object's origin, with its materials. Move, rotate and scale the object as usual.
Change the inputs in the modifier panel. Use several objects for a whole town; each keeps its own settings.

Quick start videoFrom a cube to all five buildings.

The five buildings

Key settings of each preset. Everything else is listed under Parameters.

Input	Castle	Pavilion	Pagoda	White Castle	Temple Hall
Floors	3	3	5	5	1
Base Width	10.5	7	6.5	12	18
Base Depth	9.5	7	6.5	10.5	11
Cross Plan	Off	On	Off	Off	Off
Roof Curvature	0.35	0.55	0.6	0.4	0.55
Corner Upturn	0.35	0.55	0.8	0.3	0.6
Gables	On	On	Off	On	Off
Irimoya Top	On	On	Off	On	On
Podium Height	4	1.5	1	5	1.2
Wooden Stairs	On	Off	Off	Off	Off
Ivy	On	Off	Off	Off	Off
Spire	Off	On	On	Off	Off
Bells	Off	On	On	Off	Off
Lanterns	On	Off	Off	Off	Off
Vertices	245k	141k	123k	286k	206k

Japanese Building 1 - Castle — **1 · Castle**Timber castle keep on a battered stone base, with wooden stairs, ivy and lanterns

Japanese Building 2 - Pavilion — **2 · Pavilion**Cross-plan vermilion pavilion on a stone platform, balustrades and steps on every side

Japanese Building 3 - Pagoda — **3 · Pagoda**Five-storey vermilion pagoda with a sorin spire and wind bells

Japanese Building 4 - White Castle — **4 · White Castle**Himeji-style keep: white plaster, grey tiles and gables on every roof

Japanese Building 5 - Temple Hall — **5 · Temple Hall**Wide single-storey hall with a hip-and-gable roof and lattice doors

Parameters

All inputs of the modifier, panel by panel. Defaults are the Castle's; the other buildings change some of them. Lengths are in metres. Panels: Generator · Footprint · Roof · Gables · Structure · Base · Spire · Materials

Generator

Storey count and random variation.

Input	Type	Castle default	Range	What it does
Seed	Int	0		Random seed for the variation and the shrubs
Floors	Int	3	1 – 12	Number of storeys
Variation	Float	0	0 – 1	Random jitter of taper and storey height, driven by Seed

Footprint

Plan size, storey proportions and the cross-shaped plan.

Input	Type	Castle default	Range	What it does
Base Width	Float	10.5	≥ 1	Width of the first storey along X, in metres.
Base Depth	Float	9.5	≥ 1	Depth of the first storey along Y, in metres.
Floor Height	Float	2.8	≥ 0.5	Wall height of the first storey; upper storeys scale by Height Falloff.
Taper	Float	0.74	0.4 – 1	Footprint scale per storey
Height Falloff	Float	0.78	0.4 – 1.2	Storey height scale per storey
Cross Plan	Bool	Off		Cut the corners back into a cross-shaped plan
Cross Inset	Float	0.22	0 – 0.45	How far the corners are cut back, as a fraction of each side

Roof

Shape of every roof: pitch, curve, upturned corners, tiles and ornaments.

Input	Type	Castle default	Range	What it does
Overhang	Float	1.5	≥ 0	How far the eaves reach beyond the walls.
Roof Pitch	Float	0.7	0 – 2	Rise over half span
Roof Curvature	Float	0.35	0 – 1	0 = straight slope, 1 = flat eaves and steep ridge
Corner Upturn	Float	0.35	≥ 0	How high the roof corners sweep up, in metres.
Corner Flare	Float	0.04	0 – 0.5	How far the corners sweep outwards
Roof Thickness	Float	0.2	≥ 0.02	Thickness of the roof slabs and eaves.
Roof Resolution	Int	8	2 – 32	Subdivisions of each roof surface. Lower is faster in the viewport.
Rafters	Bool	On		Exposed rafter ends under the eaves.
Ornate Ends	Bool	On		Onigawara on the hip ends and round eave tile ends
Tile Ribs	Bool	On		Round-tile rows on the roofs as real geometry
Bells	Bool	Off		Wind bells (furin) hanging from the roof corners.

Gables

Chidori-hafu gable dormers and the hip-and-gable (irimoya) top.

Input	Type	Castle default	Range	What it does
Gables	Bool	On		Chidori-hafu gable dormers on the lower roofs
Gable Size	Float	0.5	0.1 – 1	Gable width as a fraction of the storey width
Gable Pitch	Float	1.15	0.3 – 3	Gable height over half width
Bargeboard Size	Float	0.9	0.1 – 3	Depth of the gable bargeboards, relative to the roof thickness
Irimoya Top	Bool	On		Hip-and-gable top roof
Ridge Ornaments	Bool	On		Golden shachihoko on the top gables

Structure

Pillars, decks, brackets, balconies, windows, doors and lanterns.

Input	Type	Castle default	Range	What it does
Pillar Radius	Float	0.15	≥ 0.02	Radius (or half width) of the wall pillars.
Pillar Spacing	Float	1.5	≥ 0.3	Target distance between pillars; windows sit in the bays between them.
Square Pillars	Bool	On		Square pillars instead of round ones.
Deck Thickness	Float	0.25	≥ 0.02	Thickness of each storey's floor deck and balcony.
Balcony Width	Float	1.1	≥ 0	Width of the walkway around each storey.
Bracket Height	Float	0.16	≥ 0.02	Height of each layer of the tokyo bracket sets under the eaves.
Bracket Step	Float	0.12	≥ 0	How far each bracket layer steps outwards.
Railing	Bool	On		Balcony balustrade around each storey.
Railing Height	Float	0.85	≥ 0.1	Height of the balcony balustrade.
Balustrade Panels	Bool	Off		Solid panels between the balustrade posts.
Windows	Bool	On		Barred renji-mado windows between the pillars.
Wall Panels	Bool	On		Dark wainscot panels on the lower walls.
Lattice	Bool	On		Paper lattice (shoji) windows and lattice door leaves
Lanterns	Bool	On		Red paper lanterns on the balcony posts

Base

Stone base, steps or wooden stairs, ivy and shrubs.

Input	Type	Castle default	Range	What it does
Podium Height	Float	4	≥ 0	Height of the stone base. 0 removes it.
Podium Margin	Float	0.3	≥ 0	Stone top beyond the walls of the first storey
Batter	Float	0.6	≥ 0	How far the stone foot spreads
Stone Blocks	Bool	On		Rough 3D stone courses with sangi-zumi corners
Stone Size	Float	0.5	≥ 0.15	Course height of the stones
Ivy	Bool	On		Ivy patches climbing the stone walls
Ivy Density	Float	0.5	0 – 1	How much of the stone wall the ivy covers.
Stair Steps	Int	5	0 – 30	Stone steps (used when Wooden Stairs is off)
Stair Width	Float	1.5	≥ 0.2	Width of the stone steps or the wooden staircase.
Steps All Sides	Bool	Off		Stone steps on all four sides instead of the front only.
Platform Balustrade	Bool	Off		Stone balustrade around the top of the podium.
Wooden Stairs	Bool	On		A two-flight wooden staircase up the podium instead of stone steps.
Vegetation	Bool	On		Shrubs around the foot of the base.
Vegetation Density	Float	0.55	0 – 1	How many shrubs.

Spire

The sorin finial on top.

Input	Type	Castle default	Range	What it does
Spire	Bool	Off		Sorin finial on the top roof, as on pagodas.
Spire Height	Float	6	≥ 0	Height of the finial.
Spire Rings	Int	9	0 – 20	Number of rings on the finial.

Materials

Ten material slots. The building uses its own set unless Custom Materials is on.

Input	Type	Castle default	What it does
Custom Materials	Bool	Off	Use the materials below instead of the building's own
Wood	Material	JB_Weathered_Wood	Pillars, beams, balconies and stairs.
Plaster	Material	JB_Plaster_Warm	Walls.
Trim	Material	JB_Dark_Wood	Decks, panels, door recesses, shoji backing.
Roof	Material	JB_Roof_Weathered	Roof tiles (uses the roof's own tile coordinates).
Stone	Material	JB_Castle_Stone	Steps and platform paving.
Masonry	Material	JB_Rock_Blocks	The stone base.
Metal	Material	JB_Bronze	Ornaments, finials, bells and ridge fish.
Light Wood	Material	JB_Light_Wood	Lattices, bargeboards and the wooden stairs.
Foliage	Material	JB_Foliage	Ivy and shrubs.
Lantern	Material	JB_Lantern	Paper lanterns (emissive).

Materials

Each building uses its own ten materials. They are built into the node group, so a building dropped on a new object always arrives with them. To change them, turn on Custom Materials in the Materials panel and set any slot.

Slot	Used for	Castle	Pavilion	Pagoda	White Castle	Temple Hall
Wood	Pillars, beams, balconies and stairs.	Weathered Wood	Vermilion Wood	Vermilion Wood	Plaster	Cedar
Plaster	Walls.	Plaster Warm	Plaster	Plaster	Plaster	Plaster
Trim	Decks, panels, door recesses, shoji backing.	Dark Wood	Dark Wood	Dark Wood	Dark Wood	Dark Wood
Roof	Roof tiles (uses the roof's own tile coordinates).	Roof Weathered	Roof Tiles	Roof Tiles	Roof Tiles	Roof Tiles
Stone	Steps and platform paving.	Castle Stone	Stone	Stone	Castle Stone	Stone
Masonry	The stone base.	Rock Blocks	Ashlar	Ashlar	Rock Blocks	Ashlar
Metal	Ornaments, finials, bells and ridge fish.	Bronze	Gold	Gold	Gold	Bronze
Light Wood	Lattices, bargeboards and the wooden stairs.	Light Wood	Light Wood	Light Wood	Plaster	Cedar
Foliage	Ivy and shrubs.	Foliage	Foliage	Foliage	Foliage	Foliage
Lantern	Paper lanterns (emissive).	Lantern	Lantern	Lantern	Lantern	Lantern

The materials are Principled BSDF setups on ambientCG 2K maps (colour, roughness, normal, AO) with extra realism: bevelled edges, per-part colour variation, grime in the creases and streaks. The roof material follows the tiles through their own coordinates, so the pattern lines up with the tile rows.

With Custom Materials off, the slot fields in the panel are ignored. That is what keeps the building's own look when you add it to a new object.

Scenes

Japanese Building Generator (outdoor)

The five buildings side by side on generated grounds: gravel around each footprint, grass that thins out with distance, a belt of trees behind the row, a sun and a sky HDRI. The grounds are a Geometry Nodes modifier too (JB Grounds on JB_Ground) and follow the objects in the JB Buildings collection, so you can move buildings around and the gravel and grass follow.

Japanese Building Studio

The same buildings on a 1 m checker floor that fades into a grey backdrop, lit by a soft key light and a studio dome. There is a 2:1 camera per building (JB_Studio_Cam_…) and a cover camera down the row (JB_Studio_Cover). Both scenes share the buildings: change one, both update.

Rendering

Both scenes are set to Cycles, 128 samples, adaptive sampling, denoising and AgX (Medium High Contrast).
EEVEE works too; turn on Raytracing for the roof and plaster to look their best.
The lanterns are emissive and light the balconies at dusk; lower the sun for an evening shot.
On GPUs with little memory, render the buildings you need and hide the rest (camera icon in the outliner).

Performance

A building is 120k–290k vertices. To keep the viewport fast while you work:

Lower Roof Resolution (8 → 4) and turn off Tile Ribs; turn them back on for the render.
Turn off Stone Blocks (flat textured base) and lower Ivy Density and Vegetation Density.
For many buildings, show the modifier in the viewport only for the one you are editing.
Apply the modifier on finished buildings you no longer need to change.

Your own presets

Set the inputs on a building until you like it.
In the modifier, click the duplicate icon next to the node group name to make a copy, and rename it.
In the node editor's sidebar (Group tab), set the inputs' defaults to your values, or right-click the node group in the Outliner (Blender File view) › Mark as Asset.

The copy keeps its own materials. Turn on Custom Materials in it to give it a new set.

Export & apply

Object › Apply › Visual Geometry to Mesh (or apply the modifier) turns the building into a normal mesh with materials.
FBX, glTF and USD export the evaluated building directly; instances (tiles, pillars, ivy) are realised.
The roof tile coordinates are stored as attributes (tile_u, tile_v); applying keeps them, so the roof material still lines up.

FAQ & troubleshooting

The building has no materials or is grey.

Check that Custom Materials is off. If the materials show but textures are pink, the textures folder was moved: use File › External Data › Find Missing Files.

Where does the building appear?

At the object's origin, standing on its local Z = 0. The object's own mesh is not used, so any mesh works. Scale the object to scale the building.

Can I make a village?

Yes. Add several objects, each with a building. Change Seed and Variation for small differences between copies.

The viewport is slow.

See Performance.

Does it work in Blender 4.2?

It is built and tested for 4.5 LTS and 5.x. Older versions are not supported.

Credits

PBR textures and the sky HDRI from ambientCG, CC0 1.0. Generator, node groups and materials made with Blender Geometry Nodes.