A Pagoda Given by a Shogun in 1429
Saikokuji Sanjunoto (西国寺三重塔, also written Saikoku-ji Sanjū-no-tō), the three-storey pagoda of Saikokuji temple in Nishikubo-cho, Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, was built in 1429 and designated an Important Cultural Property on 14 April 1913.
It stands higher up the slope than the main hall, past the Daishido, at the end of a path that alternates between packed earth and stone steps. Three bays square, three roofs of hongawara tile, and no encircling veranda: the silhouette is compact and rather severe compared with the pagodas most visitors will have seen in Kyoto or Nara.
The building is attributed to Ashikaga Yoshinori, sixth shogun of the Muromachi bakufu, who is recorded as its donor. That a shogun in Kyoto was funding a pagoda on a hillside in Bingo Province says a good deal about where Onomichi sat in the fifteenth-century economy. The port handled shipping along the Inland Sea and served as a collection point for tax goods from estates further inland, and its temples drew patronage accordingly.
Patrons, and What the Records Show
Saikokuji kept a donation register, a paper scroll written in ink that survives as a designated cultural property of Hiroshima Prefecture. It lists 23 contributors to the rebuilding of the temple's halls across the late fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. At the head of the list is Yamana Mochitoyo, better known by his religious name Sozen (1404 to 1473), the warlord whose quarrel with Hosokawa Katsumoto set off the Onin War. Below him come other members of the Yamana house and their officers, including the deputy governor of Bingo.
One entry names a man described as a wealthy figure from Niinosho in Numakuma District, which is the sort of detail that rarely survives. It puts a merchant or landholder's name alongside those of provincial governors, and it matches what the Agency for Cultural Affairs says about this pair of buildings: the main hall and the pagoda were raised with funds from the shogunal house, from the Yamana as governors of Bingo, and from the merchants of the Onomichi area.
So the pagoda is not simply a religious monument. It is physical evidence of a port town's capacity to attract money from three directions at once during the fifteenth century.
Why the Pagoda Was Designated
The national register lists it as one unit, described as a three-bay three-storey pagoda with a hongawara tiled roof, dated to 1429 in the middle Muromachi period, designation number 00621. It joined the list on the same day as the main hall below it.
Its interest to architectural historians lies in a deliberate looking backward. By the fifteenth century, Japanese temple carpentry had absorbed zenshuyo, the bracket-heavy manner brought from Song China, and mixed styles were normal. The builders here went the other way, working in pure wayo and reaching past the medieval mixture toward the proportions of the Nara period. The Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education describes the result as part of a revivalist current running through Muromachi architecture.
The clearest sign of that intent is what is missing. Most three-storey pagodas of the period carry a kaien, a railed veranda running around the first storey. This one has none. The body rises straight from a stone podium instead, giving the lowest storey a solidity that the usual balustrade would soften. Surviving pagodas built this way are rare enough that the arrangement is singled out in every technical account of the building.
What to Look At
The climb, and the alternative
The path up from behind the main hall is short but genuinely uphill, part earth and part stone step. Anyone unsure of their footing can see the pagoda perfectly well from the terrace in front of the Kondo, where it rises out of the trees above the roofline. The close view is better for the carpentry; the distant one is better for understanding how the temple was laid out across the slope.
Roof lines and eaves
Stand at the base and look up along one corner. The three roofs diminish in width as they rise, and because there is no veranda breaking the vertical, the taper reads more strongly than it would on a conventional pagoda. The tiles are heavy formal hongawara, laid in the same manner as on the main hall, which ties the two buildings together visually across a gap of four decades.
The stone podium
Worth crouching for. The pagoda sits directly on masonry, and the joint between stone and timber is where the building's unusual character is most legible. The vermilion paint on the lower members has weathered unevenly, exposing grain in places.
The interior, which stays closed
The first storey is said to enshrine a Nyoirin Kannon (a form of the bodhisattva of compassion holding a wish-granting jewel), thought to date from the time of construction, with brightly coloured figures of the Four Heavenly Kings placed around it. The interior is not open to visitors, so treat this as background rather than something to plan around.
Season and light
Cherry trees fill this part of the hillside, and during blossom season the precinct is lit from sunset until roughly 9:30 pm. Late afternoon in any season gives the west face of the pagoda direct light, which brings out the depth of the eaves.
Getting There and Practical Notes
Take the Onomichi Bus city line westbound from JR Onomichi Station to Saikokuji-shita, then walk about five minutes to the Niomon gate; from JR Shin-Onomichi Station a taxi takes roughly ten minutes. From the gate it is 108 stone steps to the main hall and a further short climb to the pagoda. There is no parking at the front approach, and the temple directs drivers to the rear approach and its own car park.
The precinct is open from 8:00 to 17:00, with seal calligraphy received from 9:00 to 17:00 at 300 yen. Interior viewing of the Jibutsudo runs 9:00 to 16:30 at 500 yen with tea and a sweet, or 1,000 yen including the garden and powdered green tea. The pagoda itself is viewed from outside at no charge. Ceremonies occasionally restrict movement within the grounds, so call ahead if your visit depends on reaching a particular building.
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Q&A
- Who built the Saikokuji three-storey pagoda, and in what year?
- It dates to 1429 and is recorded as a donation from Ashikaga Yoshinori, the sixth Muromachi shogun. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that Saikokuji's medieval buildings drew funding from the shogunal house, the Yamana governors of Bingo, and merchants based around Onomichi.
- Can you go inside the Saikokuji three-storey pagoda?
- No. The pagoda is viewed from outside only, and there is no charge for approaching it. The Jibutsudo elsewhere in the precinct does offer interior viewing, from 9:00 to 16:30 for 500 yen including tea and a sweet.
- What makes the Saikokuji three-storey pagoda architecturally unusual?
- It has no railed veranda around the first storey and rises directly from a stone podium, which is rare among pagodas of its period. It is also built in pure wayo rather than the mixed styles common in the fifteenth century, part of a revivalist tendency in Muromachi carpentry.
- How hard is the walk to the Saikokuji three-storey pagoda?
- From the Niomon gate it is 108 stone steps to the main hall, then a further uphill path of earth and stone past the Daishido. Allow twenty minutes from the gate at an unhurried pace. Those who would rather not make the second climb can see the pagoda clearly from in front of the main hall.
- Is the Saikokuji three-storey pagoda lit up or open at night?
- During cherry blossom season the temple lights its grounds from sunset until around 9:30 pm. Outside that period, standard access hours are 8:00 to 17:00.
Basic Information
| Name | Saikokuji Sanjunoto (西国寺三重塔) |
|---|---|
| Location | Nishikubo-cho, Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (Buildings), designation number 00621 |
| Year Designated | 14 April 1913 |
| Quantity | 1 unit |
| Structure | Three-bay three-storey pagoda, hongawara tiled roof, no encircling veranda, set on a stone podium |
| Dimensions | Not published in the national register |
| Year Built | 1429 (Eikyo 1), middle Muromachi period |
| Owner | Saikokuji |
| Public Access | Precinct open 8:00 to 17:00; exterior viewing only, no charge |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Saikokuji Three-Storey Pagoda
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/3138
- Cultural Heritage Online — Saikokuji Three-Storey Pagoda
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/157675
- Japan Heritage Portal, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Saikokuji Kondo and Three-Storey Pagoda
- https://japan-heritage.bunka.go.jp/ja/culturalproperties/result/1258/
- Saikokuji, official website
- https://www.saikokuji.jp/
- Dive! Hiroshima — Saikokuji
- https://dive-hiroshima.com/en/explore/1498/
- Cultural Properties of Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education
- https://www.pref.hiroshima.lg.jp/site/bunkazai/
Last verified: 2026.08.08