Gansenji Three-Storey Pagoda

About the Gansenji Three-Storey Pagoda

The Gansenji Three-Storey Pagoda (岩船寺三重塔) is a three-storey pagoda of 1442 at Gansenji in Iwafune, Kamo-cho, Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on April 5, 1899. It stands on high ground south of the main hall, facing east (Gansenji).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a three-bay, three-storey pagoda with a hongawara tile roof. It is owned by Gansenji, a Shingon Ritsu temple in Tono on the border of Kyoto and Nara whose three-storey pagoda, thirteen-storey stone pagoda, stone shrine and five-ring pagoda are all Important Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Gansenji).

Dating the Pagoda

According to Gansenji, temple tradition holds that Emperor Ninmyo raised a pagoda in the Jowa era (834 to 847) in memory of the monk Chisen. But during the dismantling repair of 1943 an inscription dated the 20th day of the fifth month of 1442 was found on a purlin, and the present pagoda is thought to be a Muromachi-period building.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs likewise dates it to 1442, in the mid-Muromachi period.

Why It Was Designated

The Gansenji Three-Storey Pagoda was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1899. It recalls the ridge-top pagodas that gave the Tono district its name (Gansenji).

What to Look For

The Gansenji Three-Storey Pagoda is three bays square with a hongawara tile roof and stands about 18 metres tall on high ground beyond the Aji Pond (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Gansenji).

According to Gansenji, the ground floor of the pagoda is opened during the Golden Week holidays in late April and early May and on weekends and holidays in October and November, weather permitting.

Visiting the Gansenji Three-Storey Pagoda

Gansenji is open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from March to November and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from December to February, every day. The admission offering is 500 yen for adults, 400 yen for junior and senior high school students and 200 yen for primary pupils (Gansenji). There is no parking in the grounds.

Take the Kizugawa City community bus from JR Kamo Station on the Kansai Main (Yamatoji) Line, about 16 minutes to the Gansenji stop. Seasonal buses also run from Nara (Gansenji).