Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa: a medieval burial plot west of the Main Hall
Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa (室生寺五輪塔, Murōji Gorintō) is an early Muromachi period stone gorinto in Muro, Uda City, Nara Prefecture, designated an Important Cultural Property on 23 March 1961.
Uda City places it west of the Main Hall of Muroji Temple. A platform of dressed stone was laid out and the stupa set at its centre. The designation covers 2 smaller five-ring stupas and the platform as well, and the whole is counted as 1 structure.
Amid the stairways and halls of Muroji Temple this corner has a different character. It was not built for worship or for ceremonies. It was built as a grave.
Whose grave, and where the value lies
Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa has been handed down as the grave of a provincial governor of Ise, and also as the grave of Kitabatake Chikafusa. Uda City does not adopt either tradition, dating the monument on the evidence of its stone and its form to no later than the early Muromachi period. The dates the traditions imply do not sit comfortably with what the workmanship shows.
The value of the monument therefore has nothing to do with a name. Uda City rates it highly as a surviving example of the form taken by a medieval burial ground of standing. The arrangement itself carries the information: a built platform, a principal stupa at the centre, smaller stupas set beside it. What survives is not an isolated stone marker but an entire plot.
An excavation took place in 1916. Uda City records that a funerary urn was recovered from beneath the monument, and that the cavity in the shaft stone held a wooden five-ring stupa containing a smaller one of rock crystal. The practice of nesting a miniature stupa inside a stupa, known from documents, was confirmed here in physical form, and the excavation established the monument's character as a burial.
What to look for at Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa
Start with the platform. Dressed stone laid in courses with a continuous edge is a deliberate piece of construction, quite unlike a grave marked by a mound of earth. On a hillside where every level surface has to be made, someone cut a horizontal terrace here on purpose.
Then follow the five stones of the stupa from the ground up: cube, sphere, pyramid, half moon, jewel. They stand for earth, water, fire, wind and void. On Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa the proportions between the stages are well judged, and the eaves of the fire stone curve gently rather than flaring.
Note the difference in size between the central stupa and the small one in front of it. Identical forms repeated at different scales are the plain signature of a family burial plot.
Trees close in overhead and the light is poor. Moss and lichen cover the stone, so the colour shifts with the weather: after rain the edges sharpen, on a dry day the whole group turns pale and flat. Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa has no roof over it, which makes it one of the few designated properties here whose appearance depends directly on the sky.
Visiting Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa
Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa stands in the open west of the Main Hall of Muroji Temple. It is included in ordinary admission, and unlike a hall interior there is no opening date to wait for. It does lie slightly off the main stairway between the Main Hall and the pagoda, so it is easy to walk past without noticing.
There is no photography restriction here. What Nara Prefecture prohibits is photographing Buddhist statues; buildings, plants and scenery in the precinct are not covered, and a stone monument may be photographed freely.
The footing is earth and loose stone, and it turns muddy after rain. Stay off the platform and work from the outside. From low down, the void and wind stones read clearly against the sky; from higher up the stairway you can instead see how the burial plot was laid out.
Directions to the precinct, opening hours and the admission charge are set out on the Muroji Temple page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Nara
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa
- [ Todaiji Great Buddha & Nara Park Deer Experience ]
Q&A
- Whose grave is Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa?
- Tradition names either a provincial governor of Ise or Kitabatake Chikafusa, but this is not established. Uda City dates the monument to no later than the early Muromachi period and does not endorse either identification.
- When was Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa designated?
- On 23 March 1961, as an Important Cultural Property. The designation takes in 2 smaller five-ring stupas and the stone platform, and the group is counted as 1 structure.
- Has anything been found beneath Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa?
- Yes. An excavation in 1916 recovered a funerary urn from below the monument, and a wooden five-ring stupa holding a rock crystal one from the cavity in the shaft stone.
- Where in the precinct is Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa?
- West of the Main Hall of Muroji Temple. It sits a little off the stairway that runs from the Main Hall up to the pagoda, so look for it deliberately.
- Can I visit Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa freely, and take photographs?
- Yes on both counts. It is outdoors and covered by ordinary admission. Nara Prefecture's photography ban applies to Buddhist statues, not to structures or scenery in the precinct.
Basic Information
| Name | Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa |
|---|---|
| Location | Muro, Uda City, Nara Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property |
| Year Designated | Important Cultural Property in 1961 |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | 1 stone five-ring stupa with 2 smaller five-ring stupas on a stone platform (height not published) |
| Owner | Muroji Temple |
| Public Access | Outdoors and viewable on general admission |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Muroji Temple Five-Ring Stupa
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/2767
- Uda City: Nationally Designated Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.uda.lg.jp/soshiki/41/1075.html
- Nara Prefecture: Muroji Temple Route
- https://www.pref.nara.lg.jp/masumasu/2490.html
- Nara Prefecture Official Tourism Site: Muroji Temple
- https://yamatoji.nara-kankou.or.jp/01shaji/02tera/03east_area/muroji/
Last verified: 2026.09.13
