One Pagoda, National Treasure since 1953
Jodo-Ji Temple Pagoda (浄土寺多宝塔, Jodoji Tahoto) is a late Kamakura structure at Higashikubo-cho, Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, made an Important Cultural Property on 27 March 1901 and designated a National Treasure on 31 March 1953. The owner is the temple.
The quantity is one pagoda. Buildings, figures, blades, scrolls, mirrors and boxes have each had their own measure word here; the one used for towers appears now for the first time.
It is a three-bay two-storeyed pagoda roofed in plain tile. The earlier listing falls on the same day as the Shinra Zenshindo and the Kangakuin guest hall, and the designation on the same day as the Onjoji golden hall.
The Date Field and the Commentary Give Different Years
Within one record the numbers do not agree.
The date field reads: late Kamakura, 1319.
The commentary states that the pagoda burned in a fire in 1325 and was rebuilt in 1329.
So it stood from 1319, burned in 1325, and was raised again in 1329. The building now standing should be the one of 1329, yet the date field gives 1319.
With the Goto Toshiro dagger, two records differed by a tenth of a centimetre; with Kankiin, they placed the start of building fifteen years apart. Those were differences between records.
Here the date field and the commentary within one record point to different years. This article gives both and settles nothing.
The Railing Was Added Later, and the Record Says So
Four rounds of repair are recorded.
The tiles were replaced in 1495, the finial changed in 1688, the veranda repaired in 1732, and the whole dismantled and rebuilt in 1936.
The 1732 work carries a note: the railing is recorded as having been set up for the first time then.
The railing is a handrail. It was not there originally and was added in 1732. What can be seen now is not as first built.
With the Mikazuki Munechika, an appended scabbard was designated with its hilt lost. At Sashiki Castle Ruins, the state of the demolition formed part of the value.
Here the reverse: what was added later is set down expressly. The same applies to the finial, replaced in 1688, so the metal at the summit dates from that year.
Sutras Were Placed Inside the Finial
The record turns to what the summit held.
Numerous copies of the Lotus Sutra, written out by those who joined in the merit of the building, had been placed inside the finial.
The finial is the metal ornament at the top of the pagoda. Inside it lay sutras that people had copied when the building went up.
At the Shinra Zenshindo, a National Treasure image stood inside a National Treasure building. With the Fumi no Nemaro material, boxes and jars nested one within another.
Here paper lies within the highest part of a building. The finial was replaced in 1688, however, and what became of the deposit is not recorded.
The commentary ends by naming its source: a dictionary of National Treasures published in 2019. This is the same work cited for the Himeji Castle turrets, the second case here of a stated source.
Visiting
The pagoda stands at Higashikubo-cho, Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, owned by the temple. It stands in the precinct and its exterior can be seen on a visit.
The assessment is recorded: well proportioned as a pagoda of its kind, retaining old timber in its frog-leg struts, flowered brackets, beam-end carvings and other details, and representative of late Kamakura building in both form and method.
Retaining old timber is part of the assessment. Through four rounds of repair, the survival of original material in the details counts as value.
The same temple has other records: a main hall, a garden, a stupa, a tea house and a rear gate.
Access to the interior follows the temple's own arrangements. Check before travelling.
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Q&A
- When was the pagoda designated?
- It became an Important Cultural Property on 27 March 1901 and a National Treasure on 31 March 1953. The quantity is one pagoda, at Higashikubo-cho, Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, owned by the temple.
- When was it built?
- The numbers in the record do not agree. The date field gives 1319, while the commentary states that the pagoda burned in 1325 and was rebuilt in 1329. This article gives both.
- Is it as first built?
- No. Tiles were replaced in 1495, the finial changed in 1688, the veranda repaired in 1732 and the whole dismantled and rebuilt in 1936. Of the 1732 work, the railing is recorded as having been set up for the first time then.
- Is anything inside it?
- The Agency records that numerous copies of the Lotus Sutra, written out by those who joined in the merit of the building, had been placed inside the finial at the summit.
- What is valued in it?
- The Agency calls it well proportioned, notes that old timber survives in its struts, brackets and carvings, and treats its form and method as representative of late Kamakura building.
Basic Information
| Name | Jodo-Ji Temple Pagoda (浄土寺多宝塔, Jodoji Tahoto) |
|---|---|
| Location | Higashikubo-cho, Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Designation | National Treasure (structure) |
| Year Designated | 1901 (27 March), Important Cultural Property; 1953 (31 March), National Treasure |
| Quantity | 1 pagoda |
| Dimensions | A three-bay two-storeyed pagoda roofed in plain tile. The date field gives 1319, while the commentary records a fire in 1325 and rebuilding in 1329. Tiles replaced in 1495, finial changed in 1688, veranda repaired in 1732, dismantled and rebuilt in 1936. The period is the late Kamakura |
| Owner | Jodoji |
| Public Access | Standing in the precinct; the exterior can be seen on a visit, while the interior follows the temple's own arrangements |
References
- Cultural Heritage Online: the Jodoji pagoda
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/148321
- Cultural Heritage Online: the Jodoji main hall
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/196000
- Onomichi City: cultural properties of Jodoji
- https://nihonisan-onomichi.jp/bunkazai04_jodoji/
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.05