The Oldest Wooden Building in Okayama
The Three-Storied Pagoda of Chofukuji (長福寺三重塔, Chōfuku-ji Sanjū-no-tō) stands at Magami in Mimasaka City, Okayama Prefecture, a Kamakura-period structure dated to 1285 and designated an Important Cultural Property on 30 April 1921.
It is the oldest surviving wooden building in the prefecture. Okayama has fourteen three-storied pagodas still standing, a high count for a single prefecture, and this one predates all of them by well over a century.
The temple proper is Makisan Hannyain Chofukuji, of the Omuro branch of Shingon Buddhism, with an eleven-headed Kannon as its principal image. Tradition assigns its founding to 757, when the Chinese monk Ganjin is said to have opened it by imperial command of Empress Kōken. Early modern gazetteers such as the Tōsakushi repeat the story, but how much history sits underneath it is not established, and the centuries between are largely dark.
The reliable thread picks up in 1285, when a monk named Engen revived the site as a Tendai establishment. The pagoda belongs to that revival. At its height the complex counted sixty-five monastic quarters. Control shifted repeatedly between the Tendai and Shingon schools before settling permanently with Shingon during the Meitoku era in the early 1390s.
A Building That Moved Down the Mountain
The pagoda you see today does not stand where it was built. Chofukuji originally occupied the summit of Mount Maki, and repeated fires wore the complex down over the centuries. In 1928 the temple itself relocated to the foot of the mountain. The pagoda stayed behind, alone on the summit, until its condition forced action: in 1951 it was dismantled, carried down, and reassembled on the present site.
Full dismantling is the most invasive repair a wooden building can undergo, and it is also the most revealing. The ridge tag recovered during that work records the year 1285 and describes the project as a rebuilding, which is the source of the date now carried in the national register.
The official specification reads: three bays square, three storeys, roofed in kokera shingle. Total height is 22.07 metres, and the plan measures roughly six metres to a side. Kokerabuki uses thin split shingles of hinoki cypress laid in dense overlapping courses, producing an eaves edge softer and more finely grained than tile, and demanding renewal every few decades.
What specialists point to is the balance. The diminution from storey to storey is judged well, the detailing is bold rather than fussy, and the whole reads as solidly Kamakura in character without the attenuation that crept into later provincial towers.
Standing Beneath It
The pagoda is painted vermilion, and against the wooded slope behind it the colour carries a long way. Hydrangeas bloom around the approach in June, which is the season most local photographers choose.
Walk the full circuit at ground level before looking up. From the base you can read the bracket complexes and the tail rafters clearly, and the shingled eaves show their texture best when the light rakes across them in the late afternoon.
Then follow the path uphill past the pagoda to the Kokūzōdō. This is the working heart of the site for local families. On the third Sunday of January the temple holds the Kokūzō Taisai, known as Jūsan-mairi, a festival with roughly two and a half centuries of history and a designation of its own as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Mimasaka City. Children in their thirteenth year climb the approach beneath the pagoda, offer incense at the hall, and pass through the smoke, seeking wisdom and protection at the threshold of adolescence. Food stalls line the grounds and the ordinarily quiet valley fills up for the day.
Visiting
The grounds are open and can be walked freely without charge. There is no gate, no ticket desk and no fixed opening hour, and staff are not usually present, so the visit is self-directed. The pagoda can be photographed without restriction from anywhere in the precinct; its interior is not open.
Parking is available on site for about twenty cars, with space for larger vehicles as well, which makes driving the sensible option. From the Mimasaka interchange on the Chūgoku Expressway the drive takes around thirty minutes.
Public transport is thinner. The nearest usable railhead is Hayashino Station, about twenty-five minutes by taxi; Wake Station is around thirty. Nearby bus stops leave a walk of well over half an hour on rural roads, so a taxi booked for both legs is worth the cost.
The temple can be reached by telephone on 0868-74-2026 for questions about the January festival or about seeing anything beyond the pagoda's exterior. Mimasaka is hot spring country, and the Yunogō spa village makes a natural pairing for anyone building a day around the visit.
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Q&A
- Where is the Three-Storied Pagoda of Chofukuji, and how do I get there?
- It stands at Magami in Mimasaka City, Okayama Prefecture, roughly thirty minutes by car from the Mimasaka interchange on the Chūgoku Expressway. By rail, take a taxi from Hayashino Station (about twenty-five minutes) or Wake Station (about thirty). On-site parking holds around twenty cars.
- Can the Three-Storied Pagoda of Chofukuji be visited freely, and is there an admission fee?
- Yes. The grounds are open without charge and without fixed hours, and there is no ticket desk. The pagoda is viewed from outside; the interior is not open to visitors.
- How old is the Three-Storied Pagoda of Chofukuji?
- It dates to 1285, in the late Kamakura period, on the evidence of a ridge tag recovered during dismantling. That makes it the oldest wooden building surviving in Okayama Prefecture.
- Has the Three-Storied Pagoda of Chofukuji always stood on its present site?
- No. It was built on the summit of Mount Maki. The temple moved to the foot of the mountain in 1928, and the pagoda followed in 1951, dismantled piece by piece and rebuilt where it now stands.
- Is there a good time of year to see the Three-Storied Pagoda of Chofukuji?
- June brings hydrangeas along the approach. The third Sunday of January brings the Kokūzō Taisai, or Jūsan-mairi, when families with thirteen-year-old children fill the grounds and food stalls appear. Quiet visits are easiest outside both.
Basic Information
| Name | Three-Storied Pagoda of Chofukuji (長福寺三重塔 / Chōfuku-ji Sanjū-no-tō) |
|---|---|
| Location | Magami, Mimasaka City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (Structures); designation number 00754 |
| Year Designated | 30 April 1921 |
| Quantity | One structure |
| Dimensions | Three bays square, three storeys, kokera shingle roof; total height 22.07 m |
| Owner | Chofukuji |
| Public Access | Grounds open freely at all hours, no admission charge; exterior viewing only, parking for about twenty cars |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Three-Storied Pagoda of Chofukuji
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/3098
- Mimasaka City official site: Chofukuji
- https://www.city.mimasaka.lg.jp/kanko/spot/history_culture/shrine_temple/1453448851006.html
- Mimasaka City official site: Kokūzō Taisai
- https://www.city.mimasaka.lg.jp/kanko/event/1/3838.html
- Okayama Prefecture Tourism Federation: Chofukuji
- https://www.okayama-kanko.jp/spot/11515
Last verified: 2026.08.06