A Three-Story Pagoda That Looks Like Six
Stand in front of the East Pagoda at Yakushi-ji and count the roofs. You will reach six. Then look again, this time at the larger eaves, and you will find only three. The three smaller roofs in between are mokoshi, decorative pent roofs added beneath each true story. No other surviving Japanese pagoda repeats this rhythm, and the alternation of broad and narrow eaves gives the tower its famous lift toward the sky.
The pagoda rises in Nishinokyo, a quiet district southwest of central Nara. It belongs to Yakushi-ji, head temple of the Hosso school of Buddhism, and was registered in 1998 as part of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara." Among the temple's halls and gates, the East Pagoda holds a singular place: it is the only building that has stood here since the temple was first laid out, and the oldest structure anywhere in the former capital of Heijo-kyo.
It was raised in 730. Around it, every other pagoda, hall, and gate has burned, fallen, or been rebuilt across thirteen centuries. The East Pagoda remained.
Why It Was Designated a National Treasure
Yakushi-ji began far from here. Emperor Tenmu vowed to build it in 680, praying for the recovery of his consort, the future Empress Jito. The first temple stood at Fujiwara-kyo, and when the capital moved to Heijo-kyo in 710, the temple was re-established on its present ground.
The Fuso Ryakki, a medieval chronicle, records the East Pagoda's construction in 730, and that date is now generally accepted. A long scholarly argument, alive since the Meiji period, asked whether the pagoda was instead dismantled at the old Fujiwara site and carried here. The view that it was built new at Heijo-kyo has become the prevailing position, though specialists note the question is not fully closed.
The carpentry rewards a close look. The three-tiered bracket complexes, called mitesaki, preserve archaic proportions that vanished from later building. The roofs are laid in formal hongawara tiling. Above it all rises the bronze finial, or sorin, crowned by an openwork ornament known as the suien, "water smoke." Roughly two meters tall, its four panels are pierced with twenty-four flying celestials who play flutes, scatter blossoms, and descend bearing lotus buds. Where most pagoda finials show flame patterns, Yakushi-ji's chose music and dance. The Agency for Cultural Affairs first protected the pagoda in 1897 and raised it to National Treasure in 1951.
What to Look For When You Visit
Between 2009 and early 2021 the pagoda underwent the first complete dismantling in its history. Every member was lowered, examined, and reset; the structure had never before been taken fully apart. During the work the original suien came down to ground level and drew crowds who had only ever seen it as a distant silhouette. A faithful new suien, cast by metalworkers in Takaoka, now sits atop the tower, while the thirteen-century-old original is preserved for separate display.
Look for the contrast in color across the precinct. The reconstructed Kondo and West Pagoda wear bright vermilion, repainted in the modern revival of the temple. The East Pagoda stands in weathered, unpainted timber, its age plain in every grain. The two towers face each other, one new and one ancient, in the symmetrical layout that Yakushi-ji pioneered in Japan.
Wrapped around the central pillar inside is a metal sleeve, the sakkan, carved with 129 characters recounting the temple's founding vow. The inner chamber is opened to the public only on special occasions, so check the temple's schedule before you go. From outside, the best vantage is a few steps back, where the six roofs resolve into the cadence that earned the tower its old nickname, "frozen music."
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Q&A
- Is the East Pagoda really a three-story pagoda?
- Yes. It has three structural stories. The six roofs you see come from adding a mokoshi, a skirt-like pent roof, beneath each story, which doubles the count of visible eaves.
- How old is it, and is it original?
- It was built in 730 and is the only surviving original building of Yakushi-ji, as well as the oldest structure in the former Heijo-kyo. Every other major hall on the grounds is a later reconstruction.
- Can I see the original water-smoke finial?
- A new replica now tops the pagoda. The original bronze suien, removed during the 2009 to 2021 restoration, is preserved for periodic special viewing rather than permanent display, so confirm current arrangements with the temple.
- Where exactly is the pagoda?
- It stands in the Hakuho precinct of Yakushi-ji in Nishinokyo-cho, Nara City, reachable on foot from Nishinokyo Station on the Kintetsu line.
Basic Information
| Name | Yakushi-ji East Pagoda (Toto) |
|---|---|
| Location | Nishinokyo-cho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture |
| Designation | National Treasure (Important Cultural Property from 1897; National Treasure from 1951; old structural timbers added as attached property in 2022) |
| Date | 730 (Tenpyo 2), Nara period |
| Form | Three-bay, three-story pagoda with a mokoshi on every story; formal tile roofing; one structure |
| Owner | Yakushi-ji (religious corporation) |
| Access | Within the Yakushi-ji precinct; admission and inner-chamber viewing follow the temple's schedule |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/2470
- East Pagoda, Yakushi-ji Official Website
- https://yakushiji.or.jp/guide/garan_toto.html
- National Treasure East Pagoda Restoration Completion, Inori no Kairo (Nara Tourism)
- https://inori.nara-kankou.or.jp/inori/yakushiji_easttower/
Last verified: 2026.06.22