Japan was influenced by China for the writing, but the technics of Architecture were well established before the influence of Chinese culture. The wood was the more widely used material, and the Japanese were mastering well of the technics related to wooden construction.

One of the reason why Japan almost exclusively used wood because the nation was blessed with abundant forests and was thus complemented with a skilled class of woodworking artisans. 

Wood also represented life; hence to envelope one's creation with wood was to celebrate the existence of life itself. Stone, despite its strength and time resiliency, was time-consuming to carve and incurred high transportation cost.

Art & Culture of Japan