The doors to the first floor are open now

These photos are part of the five storied pagoda at Ruriko-ji temple, Yamaguchi city. To entice tourists to come over in winter when the number of visitors decline due to cold weather, many establishments hold special events. Now visitors to Ruriko-ji can see the interior of the pagoda.

My objective was one and only: to see the shin-bashira heart pillar.

Behind the statue of Amitabha Buddha stands the shin-bashira.

This pagopa was built for O-UCHI Yoshihiro who died in a battle and his statue modeled after the original statue enshrined at Kan-non Hall of Toshun-ji nearby was added inside in the 20th century.

Note the statues are enshrined on a circular pedestal. It's one of this pagoda's unique features.

Five storied pagodas with a veranda on its first level has a raised floor; thus pillars can be seen under floor. You can see the shin-bashira in the center.

Teshima in revival

The entire articles I wrote and will write about the Setouchi islands are dedicated to my friend Marie, an inspiring artist and human being, who passed away on January 9, 2011.

A black porgy made of garbage by Yodogawa Technique, sending out and greeting ships at Uno Port.
From Uno Port, you can go to Naoshima and Teshima on different boats.

Teshima is a middle-sized island located in the eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea with the population of approximately 1100. The population has been decreasing as is often the case for the rest of the Japanese islands.

I love this usually quiet and lovely island especially because I instinctively loved the islanders and they treated me so kindly, making me feel that I live in a world full of caring.

When Japan’s economy was rapidly developing in the 1960s and onward, the Seto Inland Sea area was industrialized in a very large scale, causing environmental pollution. Later the environmental issues were tackled and the sea has been cleaned up. But how the islands should thrive with its diminishing populations has remained a big issue.

Then came the project for Naoshima. Benesse Art Site Naoshima and the Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum Foundation have been the driving forces of the project.

Taking more than 20 years, starting with children’s summer camps on the island, the island has established its unique status as an island of art and nature blending and sometimes competing with each other for their aesthetic significance. The evolution has stimulated the island and islanders, with something new introduced and something old recognized again.

Then Inujima has been experimented with the Seirensho art project which holds six artworks collectively titled “Hero Dry Cell” displayed in the establishment designed by architect SANBUICHI Hiroshi on the premises of an abandoned copper refinery which has been preserved as Industrial Modernization Heritage. See the past Inujima articles if you please.

Last year on October 17, Teshima Art Museum opened to the public when the Setouchi International Art Festival was being held. Not conventional at all, with architecture, art, and surroundings undividable. This museum cannot be in Tokyo or anywhere. It has to be nestled in here, overlooking the Seto Inland Sea and lying side by side with terraced rice paddies.

From July 19 to October 31, 2010 last year, the first Setouchi International Art Festival was held involving seven islands in the Seto Inland Sea, including Naoshima, Inujima, Teshima, and others. It was a huge success, attracting lots of visitors from Japan and abroad as well. The festival is planned to be held every three years. Remember to visit the Setouchi area on the next occasion.

However, I rather visit these special places after the festival is over. I did try twice when the festival was going on. But I was clever enough to avoid the worst crowd and enjoyed the visits fully.

Now that the festival is over and it’s cold in winter, not many visitors are expected. This weekend I took advantage of it and the forecasted good weather – it was indeed sunny and warm enough. I drove my Honda Insight, parked it near the port, went into the supermarket whose parking lot I always park my car in, bought food, ate it in the car, and took a boat to the islands of Teshima and Inujima on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Finally I can write about Teshima more after a long prelude. Thank you for your patience. Let me post a photo of the Inland Sea taken from the mountain top that a local gentleman kindly offered me a ride to when I met him and other islanders at the foot of the mountain after I climbed up the mountain path to see the grove of old Castanopsis trees (a kind of pasania or chinquapin trees) and almost came down to the foot. 

Here's Teshima Art Museum. Looks like a drop of water. Inside, you’ll witness organic flows of small fountains welling up from the floor, and white round or flat marbles. You’ll find small holes on the floor and marble pieces and water constantly twinkles out and moves in many forms and speeds according to the elements. They might join into one. They are alive. Trees and soil seen from the two openings are alive. Wind is alive. Birds chirping are alive. Notice you are surrounded by life. Symbolically, the water grows rice planted in terraced rice paddies nearby.

I should not reveal the secrets too much. That will spoil your fun and you’ll stop feeling and using your all senses once you know too much. Take time. I was there for an hour and a half. There’s only one room in the display building. The other building is a café. If you just take a look, you’ll be there for a very short time. But stay longer. Just feel.

However you can always invite me. I won’t turn down your offer. I’ll be your good spiritual helper.

Here’s the minimum info you might want to remember if you can’t take me with you:

In the center of the floor lies the work of the day. The small water patches stay there without flowing down.

Remember beads and three strings, red, silver, and gold. Look up and beads can be found and you’ll not lose them once you’ve known where they are.

Two ribbons are flattering in the air. Enjoy them. They are always seen.

But the strings you might miss soon after you see them. They are there even though you don’t see them clearly or lose track of them.

A reminder: Don’t accidentally step on the water patches. I unfortunately destroyed one and got my sock wet a little.

The museum has a cafe. Its exterior and interior look like this.

Teshima is blessed with water; that’s why there are rice paddies. Many were abandoned due to depopulation but volunteers came and restored some of the paddies. The terraced rice paddies near the museum will be colored gold in fall when the rice is about to be harvested.

Here's the official web site of Benesse Art Site, describing a bit about the museum. 

The ariticle first posted on my previous blog URL; slightly revised this time.

Lee Ufan Museum in Naoshima

The newest addition to Naoshima, designed by architect ANDO Tadao and completed in July, 2010. The whole museum feels very warm and tranquil with LEE's works. Successful collaboration of architect, artist, and nature. Behind the concrete wall is the approach to the inner display area.

Click here to know more about the museum, artist, and architect, a page from the official site of the Benessse Art Site.

And here's the one greeting you on the wall.

Beyond the grass is a beach and the Seto Inland Sea. The Naoshima island stroll became merrier with this museum in place, making a natural walking route between the Chichu Art Museum, Lee Ufan Museum, and Benesse House area. You can easily go down to the beach where one of the artworks lies on the sand (boats corresponding to the painting displayed in the Benesse House Museum), and another is seen on the hillside done by SUGIMOTO Hiroshi.

Lee's exhibition, Lee Ufan: Marking Infinity, is going to be held at Guggenheim in New York from June 24 to September 28, 2011. It's the first North American museum retrospective devoted to artist, philosopher, and poet Lee Ufan, who has been active in Korea, Japan, and Europe over the last forty years. More about his exhibition at Guggenheim, go to the official site of that museum.

Article updated from my previous one at the former URL.

And a native species of Naoshima

The cat takes a nap at one of the Art House project sites, Kadoya.

It houses Sea of Time '98 by MIYAJIMA Tatsuo.

More about the artworks, jump to the official site of  Benesse Art Site Naoshima.

Naoshima's fun animals

See the introduced species of Naoshima.

Pumpkin in my palm

This pumpkin must be one of the landmarks of Naoshima, It always attracts people and makes them giggly and smiley. But a little patience enables you to take pictures of the pumpkin alone. Find the right location and try this angle. You feel like you are holding the dear pumpkin.

The pumkins rests on a pier. Once its  stem was washed away after a storm but found and rescued by a local ship.



Photos first posted on my previous blog site on June 27, 2010

The earthbound realm of Appropriate Proportion

This is part of Sugimoto’s artwork entitled Appropriate Proportion, a restored local Shinto shrine. (I don’t know how active the shrine has been.) The main sanctuary stands in the back and the worshipping place in the front. Under the roof of the worshipping place lies a 24-ton flat slab which the divinity would favor as an ineffable power field.

Sugimoto embarked on the project, first looking for a suitable slab, which he fortunately found at one of the nearby islands in the Seto Inland Sea.

The earthbound realms and the subterranean chamber are connected with glass stairs as mentioned in the previous naoshima article.

Sugimoto opted for slender delicate pillars, having an ancient intact style in mind. Pay attention to them and see how you feel about it. Here’s what he has to say about his project entitled Appropriate Proportion.

First posted on May15,  2010 on my previous blog site.

Time exposed @ naoshima

SUGIMOTO Hiroshi seems to be having a lot of fun. He is a photographer but this definition might not mean anything to him, considering his expanding range of art.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1948, he grew up and graduated from university there, then went abroad and studied photography at Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles. In 1974, he moved to New York City. Now his time is divided between Tokyo and NYC.

His photographs and artwork are seen on the island of Naoshima. The above picture is the subterranean part of Go-oh Jinja, created with contemporary significance, in the course of the community revamping project supervised by Benesse called, Art House Project, reviving old abandoned houses or neighborhood through the vitality of art.

The subterranean passageway, he says, was formed naturally rather. Heavy machinery was used but in the end manual labor had to be employed, then the result manifested itself. He entitled his artwork, “Appropriate Proportion.” Yes, quite appropriate name. The dimensions of the jinja or Shinto shrine he revived seem to be perfect and flawless to invite divinity. To achieve this, he examined one particularly ancient-styled shrine building of Ise Grand Shrine. The divine dwelling has to be built in appropriate proportion. The divinity will visit, stay, and leave. Somewhere beyond the waves of the inland sea, celestial beings will come, travel through the underground passageway and go up the glass stairs to find the shrine built in appropriate proportions. They will say “Good” and perform their duties.

Sugimoto used premium optical glass to make the stairs. As a photographer, the optical glass must be something he’s been familiar with. Also the glass was believed to be possessed by spirit in ancient Japan.

His “Time Exposed” series, ancient seawater and horizon, is comfortable to gaze at, and at the same time, invokes stimulation by finding them at the most unusual locations. Three of his “Time Exposed” photographs are separately displayed on rugged rock faces around Benesse House (a contemporary museum and accommodations on the same premises). They are at a considerable distance from you and you can’t identify what they are; they look like a funny square eye, which appeared from nowhere and remains on the cliff. Later, when you see a series of his photos displayed at a terrace of Benesse House, again outside, you’ll know what you’ve seen near the water. But that’s only if something clicks in you and connects you and the artist.

With his photo displayed at an otherwise ordinary location, the landscape or seascape looks different and conspicuous, capturing the lapse of time. His photos are easy to spot in Naoshima’s natural settings. The image is so vivid and striking that you might begin to think of its significance to you.

Originally written on January 2, 2009 on the former blog URL.

Details of the pagoda at Myo-o-in, Hiroshima

The above photo shows the veranda of the five storied pagoda at Myo-o-in, Hiroshima.　Of the 22 traditional wooden five storied pagodas in Japan, 15 are equipped with a veranda, meaning about 70 % of the total.

This pagoda was constructed in the Wayo Japanese architectural manner. Wayo is defined as the architectural techniques and styles evolved in Japan from the 8c through the 12c based on the prototypes introduced from China during the T'ang dynasty. At the end of the 12 century, new styles were introduced from China again. That was when the expression Wayo was coined to distinguish the old and new.

The photo below identifies three typical Wayo features. One is the Renji-mado or vertically latticed windows in contrast to the newly introduced cusped windows; another the Itakara-do wooden plank doors versus the Sankara-do paneled doors framed by horizontal crosspieces and vertical mullions; and the last the onion-bulb shaped Giboshi ornament on top of the newels of railings instead of the inverted lotus flower Gyakuren ornament.

YANNUS offers you a lot of information on Japanese architecture and art. Click here to jump to its home page.

The pagoda at Myo-o-in, Hiroshima

This pagoda, 29.1 meters high, was completed in 1348 and its Shin-bashira heart pillar stands from the attic of the first floor, the style invented in the 12th century and first employed on the three storied pagodas. The one at Kaijusen-ji located on the outskirts of Kyoto is the first five storied pagoda built in this style in 1214. The other three made in the same style I know are those at Itsukushima-jinja (Hiroshima, 1407), Haguro-san (Yamagata, 1377), and Saisho-in (Aomori, 1666). They all have a veranda around the first level and are painted except the one at Haguro-san. They are relatively short; the one at Kaijusen-ji is 17.7 meters of height, the second shortest five storied pagoda of the 22 traditional ones.

This pagoda at Myo-o-in retains its colors well, partly thanks to the rather dry local climate but greatly due to people’s care.

Both the main hall and the pagoda are national treasures. Not a busy tourist destination but you’ll appreciate the architecture if you study a little bit about Japanese traditional styles and designs in advance.

When I was there with my fellow interpreter, we both got a doughnut and a cup of tea from the wife of the junior priest and the faithful cleaning up the precincts. It was yum!

The pagoda at Ruri-ko-ji again

 This is how the pagoda looks unpon your entering the temple grounds.

Yamaguchi noted overseas in the time of Xavier

Yamaguchi is a quiet city with the population of nearly 200 thousand. It has the least populated capital city in Japan. But once in the 16th century, around the time that Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier came to Japan, Yamaguchi was one of the most flourishing and cultured cities in the country and referred to as such in books and letters written by European missionaries. O-uchi Hiroyo, the 24th O-uchi lord from the 14th century, whose bronze statue stands on the premises of Ruriko-ji temple, laid out the city after Kyoto. He also introduced and promoted Kyoto culture and many nobles and literati sought refuge here, fleeing Kyoto in turmoil in the 15th century. The legacies from the O-uchi era remain here as temples, shrines, lacquer ware, and whatnot. The most notable has to be the five storied pagoda at Ruriko-ji temple.

In addition, the city has famed Yuda onsen hot spring which has 800-year-old history and many who actively worked to transform feudal Japan to a modern state toward the end of the Edo period in the middle of the 19th century came here for discussions, claiming that they were here for bathing.

The pagoda was completed in 1442 taking 40 years, dedicated to the 25th O-uchi lord who died in a battle. Along with the ones at Horyu-ji (Nara) and Daigo-ji (Kyoto), this pagoda is known as one of the three best of all the five storied pagodas in Japan. Note the wind bells on the so-rin spire in addition to those on the eaves. The Shin-bashira heart pillar stands from the podium to the inner edge of the spire, the most common way.

Besides the pagoda, the temple precincts and the adjacent mausoleum for the Mori clan are a lot of fun to explore. No admission fee for viewing and visiting the pagoda and all the rest.

The pagoda was built for the Ouchi; while the temple, Ruriko-ji, was built for the Sue, who fought against Yoshitaka, the 31st and last lord of the O-uchi in the 16th century. Later in 1690 the temple moved from the original place to the present site, because the initial temple built for the Ouchi was demolished by the Mori but the pagoda survived thanks to local people’s petition and stood alone for 84 years until Ruriko-ji temple moved in. Ironically and fortunately, the former enemies now stand side by side peacefully.

Try clapping, stomping, or jumping on the stone pavement in front of the stone stairs leading up to the mausoleum. Due to the repercussion, you will hear funny squeaking noise.

In 1907, Tanka poet WAKAYAMA Bokusui came over and his poem goes:

Early summer    An old temple nestled in hills    A traveler stands still at an old pagoda　

Pagoda at Zentsu-ji, Kagawa

This temple is located in Zentsu-ji City, Kagawa, Shikoku Island and established by Kukai, the founder of Singon sect Buddhism in Japan, in 813. Kukai's temples feel quite open and friendly and he's been a great cultural hero loved by the Japanese people. Kukai's temples attract lots of pilgrims and tourists.

This pagoda was first built in the early 9th century but collapsed by gale or burned in fires total three times after its original completion. The present one is the fourth reconstruction, 45 meters high, and serves as a landmark of the temple. The previous pagoda was consumed in a fire in 1840 and the emperor announced that the pagoda be rebuilt in 1845. It was finally completed in 1902. 

The Shin-bashira heart pillar is suspended and there's some space between the pillar and the Shin-so base stone. There are only several examples of this type of Shin-bashira installation. I so far confirmed five. They were all built in the 20th century or later. This is the fourh method of installing the heart pillar.

The most famous example of this type should be the one at Nikko. Nikko is so artificially colorful and sculpted that the complex including the five storied pagoda is not my cup of tea. Though the Nikko area is one of the world cultral heritage sites in Japan.

Kojo-ji pagoda again

Here's one of the monuments showing Hirayama's sketch printed on a tile.

                              Note the sculpted pieces beneath the eaves.

The first level rafters are joined like an umbrella; whereas the second and third ones lie parallel to each other. Here's the first level.

Kojo-ji temple and its three storied pagoda

There are more than 700 islands in the Seto Inland Sea. One of them is Ikuchi-jima, Hiroshima Pref. There stands a temple with a painted and sculpted three storied pagoda completed in 1432, designated a national treasure. The temple stands on a hill with its pagoda higher on the hill.


HIRAYAMA Ikuo(1930-2009) is one of Japan's representative artists in the 20th century and served as president of Tokyo University of the Arts for about 16 years. He was born in this island and survived the A-bomb as a young student in Hiroshima at the age of 15. He completed 60 watercolor sketches at 60 locations around the Shimanami Scenic Sea Route linking the Honshu Main Land and Shikoku Island with bridges and islands such as Ikuchi-jima in the Seto Inland Sea.


I found three at this temple.


The Shin-bashira heart pillar stands from the attic of the first floor. All three storied pagodas built from the end of the 12th century adopted this method of erecting the heart pillar. This method was also employed for five storied pagodas but only a limited number of this type have been confirmed. I counted up to five. Probably just five are extant. And not many were built. This is the third oldest way of installing the heart pillar of the five storied pagodas.

1300-year-old Pagoda at Horyu-ji temple

Please do spend a day at Horyu-ji temple, the very repository of Japanese ancient culture from the 7th to 8th century. Every fall, I have a privilege to spend two hours showing the temple to my guests and then take them to a small but very special restaurant near To-in, the east compound of the temple. The restaurant is a remodeled Japanese house, where I’m sure you can experience living Japan. The meal is very healthy and tasty with rustic Nara touch. You might be able to feel that you are invited to someone’s house in Nara.

Since I plan well (believe me), the two-hour tour turns out to be fun but if you are alone, no rush and spend at least three hours or more. Besides the ancient architecture, the Daiho-zo-in treasure house is worth visiting and staying long enough. Each exhibit is hard to miss. One of the clay statues has a part of its clay peeled but thank to that, the wooden core underneath became visible. Amazingly, there you see carved wooden toes, which would never have been witnessed by anyone without the accidental peel. The admission is included in the ticket you may purchase.

I recommend you visit on foot the other two temples nearby, Hokki-ji temple and Horin-ji temple. At Hokki-ji, you can get to see the oldest three storied pagoda in Japan. At Horin-ji, the three storied pagoda, the labor of love, reconstructed by master carpenter NISHIOKA Tsunekazu, the last master carpenter exclusively for Horyu-ji greets you.

I need to introduce this respected man of great skill and his determined way of life in another article. What he did and what he said are so inspirational. But here, let me suggest you go to “Horyu-ji i center” conveniently located on the approach to the temple and try the second floor. I do not remember whether the English panels are in place or not. But please go there and take a look at how ancient carpenters exerted their wisdom to build these temple buildings 1300 years ago, claimed to be the oldest set of wooden buildings in the world.

Master carpenter NISHIOKA revived old carpentry tools, one of which was Yarigan-na (a kind of plane), which should be displayed there. These tools were necessary for the great Showa period restoration work of Horyu-ji that lasted quite a while, hampered by WWⅡ. But he had this luck of being able to engage in the restoration work through which he, at first hand, learned the ancient wisdom, how past restoration works were conducted, and the marvel of Hinoki or Japanese cypress which has supported this great temple buildings for such a long time.

Trees are alive even after being felled to become lumber. They continue to have their unique characters. Master carpenters know how to handle them. They know right trees in right places. In case of mature Hinoki, they become stronger for the first 200 years or so and then taking more than 1000 years their strength comes back to be the same when they were cut. That means the hinoki trees at Horyu-ji are as strong as they were felled 1300 years back.

The Shin-bashira (Heart PIllar) of the pagoda at Horyu-ji was erected in the oldest way. It stood from the shin-so stone buried under the ground, two to three meters deep from the podium on which the pagoda stands. But rather soon, there happened trouble. Due to humidity the bottom of the pillar became hollow and it had to be mended by stuffing the cavity with stones and sun-dried bricks.

Well before the restoration work in the Showa period in the 20th century, a very large cavity had been found and in secret researchers went in there entrusted by the temple. Now it’s an open secret. The tower sustained itself with that large hole at the bottom of the heart pillar for more than 1000 years. At the restoration work, the cavity was mended with concrete and now the heart pillar stands on the shin-so base stone on the podium.

See the long-extending eaves and how dimensions at the top story are reduced in half of the first.

To-ji temple in Kyoto

As I wrote in one of the past articles, so-rin spire is supported by Shin-bashira or Heart Pillar, standing right in the middle of the interior of Japanese wooden pagodas of traditional make. The pillar supports the spire, not the whole pagoda, and stands independently from the rest of the structure. The spire caps the upper end of the pillar.

The five storied pagodas are usually closed and you can only admire their exterior. You are not permitted to go in and climb up like the multi-floored Chinese counterparts.

But don’t despair. The one at To-ji temple is open to the public periodically. If you happen to be in Kyoto now, you are in good luck. It’s open now, up to March 21. It is also open from April 29 to May 25.

The interior space is rather small and limited but seeing the heart pillar and surrounding statues is special. At To-ji, the heart pillar symbolizes the Cosmic Buddha Dainichi, central deity of their sect called Shin-gon.

This pillar had to be shortened near the bottom by about 50 cm in less than 50 years after the pagoda was rebuilt in 1644, the fourth reconstruction after it was originally built at the end of the 9th century.

The pillar stands tall with its tree fibers in verticality, which sustains load better than installed sideways, and does not have to support vast weight, only the spire; hence it hardly shrinks or deforms after its installation. However the rest of the structure does shrink and deform over time. Skilled carpenters always took it into consideration while building the pagodas. It happened at To-ji sooner than expected due to complications, perhaps. The tower became shorter; whereas the heart pillar stood unchanged. See the bottom of the pillar. It is applied with a metal bandage.

There are four ways the heart pillars were erected. At To-ji, the pillar stands on the Shin-so stone laid out on the podium for the pagoda. This is the second oldest way.

The example of the oldest way remains at Horyu-ji temple, though not in the perfectly original state. The article about Horyu-ji and the other two ways of erecting the heart pillar will follow later.

Here's a web page from the official web site of To-ji. Try scrolling down to the end of this page, and you can see the interior image of their five storied pagoda.

Message from Hiroshima

                                                        photo courtesy of arch-hiroshima

"An Unrecognized Loss - Message from Hiroshima" showcases images of life in Hiroshima before it was bombed. The film is about the day-to-day life and culture of Hiroshima, a side of the tragedy that has never been addressed in such detail. It was created by the Hiroshima Reconstruction Project, which is committed to spreading the non-nuclear message through a powerful story-telling technique that uses the latest, digital image technology. Its theme is the enormity of loss caused by the Atomic Bomb.

The above is the description from the web site of UNODA, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. The site generously offers you a chance to get to see Hiroshima before the destruction.
*The web site might not be reached directly, which happened to me more than once. In that case, please type  "An Unrecognized Loss - Message from Hiroshima in the "search" window on that page.

At 8:15 am on August 6, 1945, the first A-bomb ever used in human history exploded about 600 meters above the city. Below the mushroom cloud, people were in agony and their habitat ceased to exist.

Ground Zero has been transformed into Peace Park, where tourists, students, ordinary citizens and their pets walk. Monuments stand quietly and trees and plants please our eyes every season.

But we tend to forget that it used to be a lively neighborhood consisting of several towns, where people lived, did business, went to see the movies, and dined out. These towns should not slip our memory.

The picture posted this time is courtesy of arch-hiroshima, a web site for which I translate articles from Japanese to English. Webmaster Makoto is an interesting young man who was born and raised near the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, and now works in Tokyo.

The pilotis of the Peace Memorial Museum designed by TANGE Kenzo beautifully serves as a gateway to Peace Park. Through it, you see the Cenotaph for the A-bomb victims. The axis conceived of on the ground extending perpendicularly from Peace Boulevard toward the A-bomb Dome is unobstructed this way. Through the Cenotaph, you see the A-bomb Dome, former Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall.

The park, I believe, is a masterpiece done by TANGE, who spent happy high school days in Hiroshima away from home in Imabari, Ehime on the island of Shikoku. His passion and attachment to the city must have led him through the Peace Center project when he was in charge of it as an architect.

The area was a bustling neighborhood, which fatally metamorphorsed into a dismal graveyard before becoming the park. That should we remember.

So-rin on the roof of Daigo-ji's pagoda

Here’s a close-up picture of the spire called so-rin. This part of the tower, not the whole tower, is the one that evolved from stupa, a hemispherical mound built in ancient India around the 3rd century B.C. to inter and venerate the ashes of Shiddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, who lived in the 5th century B.C.

The five storied pagodas in Japan, therefore, must have been originally built to enshrine the Buddha’s ashes or relics as an object of worship. Overtime, the significance of the pagodas as well as their location on the premises has changed - first in the center of the temple but later where it stands out well as a symbol and landmark of the temple - though they remain as one of the indispensable structures for many temples.

Well-surviving examples of early stupa are found at Sanchi, India. Sanchi is the oldest extant Buddhist sanctuary. Stupa 1, especially, has been preserved well. Its mound is topped with a parasol-like structure which is said to have intended to honor and shelter the ashes or relics of the Buddha. It is famed for its rich decorative work on the four monumental gateways called torana that provide access.

For more about Buddhist monuments at Sanchi which include Stupa 1, visit UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention site.

This web site shows a CAD image of the so-rin at Horyu-ji temple. The one at Horyu-ji’s pagpda alone has four scythes attached on it. It’s a bit of a mystery and nobody knows exactly why. Many say it must be a kind of charm against lightning; others insist it hopes for good harvest.