Ishiteji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda

A Late Kamakura Pagoda Above the Pilgrim Path

The Ishiteji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda stands in the precinct of Ishiteji in Ishite 2-chome, Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, dates from the late Kamakura period (1275 to 1332), and was designated an Important Cultural Property on 27 May 1907. It rises to the right once you have passed under the Niōmon, the great two-storey gate that opens the precinct.

Ishiteji (石手寺) is the fifty-first stop on the Shikoku eighty-eight temple pilgrimage and belongs to the Buzan branch of Shingon Buddhism. Seven of its structures carry national designations, so the pagoda is not a solitary monument but one member of a medieval group that has stayed together on the same ground.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records the building as a three-bay, three-storey pagoda roofed in hongawarabuki tile, counted as one structure, with a single ridge tag included in the designation. Height is 24.1 metres. From the forecourt the three roofs step back in short increments, which is why the Ishiteji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda reads as compact rather than tall even at that height.

Why the Pagoda Carries a National Designation

The Ishiteji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1907, and that early date matters. Matsuyama's pagoda entered national protection in the first decades of the modern preservation system, alongside the temple's main hall and bell tower, which were listed on the same day. Ehime had few buildings recognised that early.

What earned the listing is the consistency of the carpentry. Every storey of the Ishiteji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda sets a wayō-style three-stepped bracket cluster, or mitesaki, on round pillars. The eaves are doubled at all three levels, with rafters set parallel and close together. Between the brackets sit strut-and-block units, except at the first storey, where the block is present and the strut below it is left out. That single omission at ground level is the sort of detail conservators use to place a building in its period.

The first storey is edged with a plain kirime-en veranda. The second and third carry railed verandas with kōran balustrades, so the silhouette gains a horizontal band at each level instead of a smooth taper.

The Central Pillar That Never Reaches the Ground

Look up at the finial and follow the mast down. The central pillar of the Ishiteji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda carries the nine rings and the flame-shaped ornament above the ridge, drops through the middle of the third and second storeys, and then stops. It is caught on a beam laid across the tops of the four inner pillars of the first storey. It does not continue to a foundation stone in the earth.

Carpenters began working this way in the closing years of the Heian period, and it became common in Kamakura pagodas. The reason is practical. A mast that hangs from the frame moves with the frame in wind and tremor, instead of fighting it from a fixed point below.

The first storey holds a painted interior that most visitors never see. Behind the four inner pillars a partition wall closes off the rear bay, a shumidan platform stands in front of it, and a Shakyamuni triad is enshrined there. The eight patriarchs of the Shingon lineage are painted on the inner walls and a mandala on the partition; the inner pillars and the coffered ceiling were coloured as well. Municipal and prefectural records note that the pigments have faded and are lifting in places, which is a fair description of paintwork roughly seven centuries old.

Circle the base slowly. The bracket work is easiest to read from the north side, where the ground rises and brings the second storey closer to eye level.

Visiting the Pagoda

The precinct of Ishiteji is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with no closing days, and there is no admission charge for walking the grounds. The Ishiteji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda cannot be entered; the painted first storey is closed, so the building is appreciated from outside. No blanket photography restriction is published by the temple, the city or the prefecture for the open precinct, but the treasure hall is a separate matter and it is worth asking at the counter first.

The treasure hall costs 200 yen for adults, 150 yen for junior and senior high school students and 100 yen for elementary school children.

From the Dōgo Onsen tram terminus the walk takes about 15 minutes east along the Ishite River. Buses from Matsuyama City Station stop at Ishiteji, a few steps from the gate. Drivers will find parking for roughly 40 to 50 ordinary cars, charged from 210 yen per hour on weekdays. Visitor details were checked on 3 September 2026; for current hours or ceremony days, call the temple on 089-977-0870.