Ishiyama-Dera Temple Hokyointo Pagoda

Ishiyama-dera Hōkyōin-tō: The Listed Stone Pagoda West of the Tahōtō

The Ishiyama-Dera Temple Hokyointo Pagoda (石山寺宝篋印塔, Ishiyama-dera Hōkyōin-tō) is a stone memorial pagoda of the early Muromachi period (the era of the Northern and Southern Courts) standing just west of the Tahōtō at Ishiyama-dera in Ōtsu City, Shiga Prefecture, and it was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1961. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it simply as a stone hōkyōin-tō, 1 in number, dating from the early Muromachi period.

Finding the right one takes a little care. 2 hōkyōin-tō stand side by side west of the Tahōtō. According to Ōtsu City, the one on the right is said to be a memorial to Minamoto no Yoritomo and the one on the left a memorial to Kamegaya Zenni, the wet nurse of one of Yoritomo's daughters, and only the left one is designated. The temple's own guide to the grounds agrees, marking the Kamegaya Zenni pagoda as the Important Cultural Property.

A third hōkyōin-tō stands in front of the Mieidō on the lower terrace, ringed by paving where pilgrims walk over sand from the 88 temples of Shikoku. It is the one most visitors notice, but it is not the listed pagoda.

What a Hōkyōin-tō Is, and Why This One Matters

A hōkyōin-tō began as a reliquary for the Hōkyōin Dhāraṇī, a Buddhist incantation text, and later became one of the most common forms of memorial stone in Japan. It is built up in stacked parts: a base, a cubic body, a stepped cap and a finial of rings, with ear-like projections rising from the 4 corners of the cap. The form spread widely from the Kamakura period through the Muromachi period.

The Ishiyama-Dera Temple Hokyointo Pagoda was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1961. Ōtsu City describes the Ishiyama-dera example as early Muromachi work of the typical hōkyōin-tō shape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs defines the early Muromachi period as 1333 to 1392, which coincides with the civil war between the Northern and Southern Courts. The temple places the Kamegaya Zenni pagoda in that era and the neighbouring Yoritomo pagoda slightly later.

This is the only stone object among the temple's Important Cultural Properties. Where the Main Hall and the Tahōtō show medieval carpentry, this pagoda preserves the work of medieval stonemasons.

Who was Kamegaya Zenni?

Temple tradition says Kamegaya Zenni nursed Yoritomo's second daughter and was the wife of Nakahara no Chikayoshi, a warrior who prayed for victory before the image of Bishamonten at Ishiyama-dera. After taking vows she lived at the temple, where she was known as the Nun of Ishiyama, and she is said to have urged Yoritomo to support its restoration.

The pagoda, however, was made more than 100 years after she and Yoritomo died. The temple suggests that later generations raised the 2 stones in their memory. Read the names as a later community's way of honouring the Kamakura patrons who helped rebuild Ishiyama-dera, rather than as a record of the original burials.

What to Look For

Walk west around the Tahōtō and the 2 pagodas appear side by side. The one on the left, as you face them, is the listed Ishiyama-dera Hōkyōin-tō.

Compare the pair. Both follow the same formula, yet the corner projections flare differently and the balance between body and cap is not quite the same. Ōtsu City singles out the left pagoda as a typical example of the form, and with its neighbour beside it you can see what typical means in practice.

Then step back. The Tahōtō rises behind, a round-over-square wooden pagoda, and from here you can fit it and the squared-off stone pagoda into one view.

Visiting the Ishiyama-dera Hōkyōin-tō

The Ishiyama-dera Hōkyōin-tō stands outdoors on the upper terrace, west of the Tahōtō, and can be seen freely whenever the temple is open. Temple admission is required to enter the grounds. Please stay outside any fencing and do not touch or lean on the stone.

Personal photography is free and needs no permit. The quickest route is east from the Main Hall, past the great wollastonite outcrop and up the steps to the Tahōtō terrace. Directions, opening hours and admission for the whole temple are on the Ishiyama-dera page.