What a hōkyōintō is
A hōkyōintō is a stone monument composed, from the bottom, of a base, a body, a roof and a finial spire. Tsuyama City describes it as a stone tower made all over Japan in the medieval and early modern periods for graves and devotion. The form is said to derive from a container for the Hōkyōin dhāraṇī sutra, and it later spread widely as a memorial and grave marker.
The four faces of the square body are often carved with Sanskrit seed syllables representing Buddhas. The roof is stepped above and below, and its most distinctive feature is the ear-like corner horns rising at its four corners. The sides of the base may carry Kōzama panels. The angle and shape of the horns and the number of steps in the roof change over time and help date a monument.
Reading the records and the monument
Records describe each part in detail. For a stone hōkyōintō designated by Kakogawa, Hyogo, the base has framed kōzama on all four sides, the body carries the seed syllables of the four Buddhas of the Diamond Realm, the roof has the standard two steps below and six above with corner horns leaning slightly outward, and the spire, broken in two places, has been rejoined and is complete. The Kōchi hōkyōintō in Shimoda, Shizuoka, a memorial set up in 1334, shows Kamakura-period design in the kōzama and lotus of its base and the corner horns of its roof. The hōkyōintō of Doōji in Kurashiki, Okayama, inscribed with the year 1314, is an Important Cultural Property typical of the Kamakura period.
On site, check whether the body is square and whether horns rise at the corners of the roof. A cylindrical body indicates a Hōtō; a stack of five parts including a sphere indicates a gorintō.
References
- 石造宝篋印塔の解説｜津山市
- https://www.city.tsuyama.lg.jp/common/photo/free/files/15741/202211021400580149915.pdf
- 石造宝篋印塔（加古川市指定）｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/229238
- 河内の宝篋印塔｜しずおか文化財ナビ
- https://www.pref.shizuoka.jp/kankosports/bunkageijutsu/bunkazai/1002825/1041003/1041886/1004958/1020762.html
- 宝篋印塔（堂応寺）｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/3087
Last verified: 2026.09.26