Ryosenji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda

A Small Pagoda Roofed in Cypress Bark

The Ryosenji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda (霊山寺三重塔, Ryosenji Sanju no To) is a three-storied pagoda at Ryosenji in Nakamachi, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, recorded by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as built in 1356, which in 1899 was designated an Important Cultural Property.

The Agency records a three-bay, three-storey pagoda roofed in cypress bark. The temple gives its total height as 17 metres, a small pagoda.

The temple itself dates the pagoda to about 1283 or 1284, some 70 years earlier than the Agency's record, so both dates are given here.

Why It Matters

The temple describes the Ryosenji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda as a Kamakura pagoda in the pure Japanese style, with a plank door in the central bay and lattice windows in the side bays of each storey, and well-ordered bracketing that gives it an elegant bearing.

The walls of the ground storey carry brightly coloured paintings attributed to Kose no Kanaoka, which the temple notes are also an Important Cultural Property. Painting surviving within the pagoda itself is one of its distinctions.

What to Look For

Stand in front and read the three storeys from the bottom up. Each repeats the same arrangement, a plank door at the centre flanked by lattice windows, shrinking as it rises.

Look too at the bracketing under the eaves and the light curve of the bark roofs. At 17 metres the pagoda is small enough for the details of each storey to be seen clearly from the ground.

Visiting the Three-Storied Pagoda

The pagoda is seen from outside. The temple states that the murals inside the ground storey are not open to the public. Directions and admission for the grounds are given on the Ryosenji Temple page.