Shinchokokuji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda

What Is the Shinchokokuji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda?

Shinchokokuji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda (新長谷寺三重塔, Shinchōkoku-ji Sanjū-no-tō) is a mid-Muromachi pagoda in Hasederacho, Seki City, Gifu Prefecture, built in 1463 and designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan on 5 April 1909. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a three-bay, three-tier pagoda roofed with cypress bark.

"Three-bay" means each face of the ground storey is divided into three Ken bays by four posts; "three-tier" refers to the three stacked roofs, all of them Hiwadabuki. A Buddhist pagoda was originally a reliquary for the Buddha's remains, and in Japan it usually stands as a landmark paired with the main hall.

On the Agency's map the Shinchokokuji Three-Storied Pagoda stands about 27 metres southeast of the main hall, just south of the Yakushi Hall on the eastern side of the grounds.

Why the Pagoda Matters

The pagoda went up only three years after the main hall was rebuilt in 1460. Having a firmly dated mid-Muromachi hall and pagoda survive side by side, and designated together in 1909, gives a clear picture of how quickly Shinchokokuji recovered after fire.

The cypress bark roofing matters too. Bark shingles make eaves look thinner and lighter than tiles would, so three roofs stacked one above another still read as a slender outline. Because every Muromachi building in the precinct shares the same material, the pagoda also ties the whole compound together visually.

What to Look For at the Shinchokokuji Pagoda

How the roofs shrink

Stand at the base and follow how much smaller each roof becomes toward the top. Japanese pagodas normally reduce the plan of each upper storey, and the degree of that reduction shapes the whole silhouette. The eaves and their shadowed brackets overlap tier by tier, and the pattern of light shifts as you change your viewing angle.

Pagoda and main hall together

From near the front of the main hall, look east to frame both roofs in one view. Built three years apart, the two buildings share the same bark texture, a reminder that the rebuilding was one continuous campaign.

The view from the Guest Hall garden

Seki City highlights the garden view of the pagoda from the Guest Hall. On the Agency's map the Guest Hall lies roughly 90 metres southwest of the Shinchokokuji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda, so the tower appears as a distant focal point beyond the garden, quite unlike the close-up view from the courtyard.

Visiting the Shinchokokuji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda

You can walk around the pagoda and view it from all sides. No published source mentions interior openings, so plan to study it from outside.

The garden view requires a Guest Hall reservation (300 yen). Photography is banned inside the outer gate, so bring a sketchbook if you want a record. Directions and general rules are on the Shinchokokuji Temple page.