The Five-Ringed Pagoda at Kakuan
The Five-Ringed Pagoda (Gorintō) at Kakuan in Noma, Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, is a pair of granite stupas of the late Kamakura period, designated an Important Cultural Property on 20 March 1954. They stand together on a single stone platform in the corner of a working rice field, at the northwestern edge of the settlement.
A gorintō is a memorial stupa assembled from five stacked elements, read from the ground upward as earth, water, fire, wind and void, the five great elements of Buddhist cosmology. The two at Kakuan are cut from granite. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database places their making in the late Kamakura period, between 1275 and 1332.
According to the Ehime Prefectural Board of Education, the larger stupa stands 240 centimetres, or 265 centimetres including the platform; the smaller one stands 220 centimetres, or 245 centimetres with the platform. Neither carries an inscription or a Sanskrit character, and both surfaces were left rough from the chisel rather than dressed smooth.
Ownership rests with the Noma district community, and Imabari City is the designated managing body. The pair was dismantled and repaired in fiscal 1989.
Why it was designated, and how three stupas get counted
Stone memorial stupas survive across Japan in enormous numbers, and only a few reach national designation. The Five-Ringed Pagoda at Kakuan qualified on proportion: the relationship between the earth block at the base and the void stone at the summit holds together without slackness, and the whole reads as a confident piece of late Kamakura work. Because there is no inscription, the dating rests on style, and the style here is unusually legible.
Two stupas of different size sharing one platform is also a different proposition from a single tower. Local tradition has long held that they mark the graves of Okabe Jūrō, a lord of this district, and his wife. The form fits the story neatly, but no contemporary record has been found to confirm it, and the account should be read as tradition rather than as documented history.
A third stupa in the same village was designated on the same day. It stands roughly 400 metres to the east, at a place called Baba. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database registers the Kakuan pair under designation number 01279 and the Baba stupa separately under 01280. Cultural Heritage Online, by contrast, records all three together as a single item titled "Five-Ringed Pagodas, three units". The designation date, the owner and the managing body are identical in every case, so the divergence is one of cataloguing rather than of substance. Anyone quoting a count should say which source it comes from.
The wider district, the former village of Noma, holds an unusual concentration of stone monuments from the Kamakura and Nanbokuchō periods. The hōkyōintō stupas at Noma Shrine and at the site of Chōenji were designated in the same year, 1954. The Kakuan pair is listed as a component of the Japan Heritage story on the Geiyo Islands and the Murakami sea lords, under the grouping "Noma Shrine and the stone monuments of the Noma district".
What to look at
The setting registers before the stonework does. This is not a temple precinct and not a graveyard. Two medieval stupas stand unfenced at the edge of a cultivated field, with nothing tall nearby, so their silhouettes read straight against the sky. The experience is less like visiting a monument than like finding the thirteenth century left in the middle of an ordinary agricultural landscape.
The two share a form and differ only in size, which makes them easy to read side by side. The swell of the water stone, the flare of the eaves on the fire stone, the curve of the void stone at the top: seeing the same proportions worked at two scales, a few paces apart, is rare.
Nothing is carved on either surface. No Sanskrit seed syllables, no date of erection, no donor's name. Given that some of the hōkyōintō in the same district do carry inscriptions, the silence here stands out. The granite was never polished either. The grain stays visible, and after rain the crystals lift out of the wet surface.
If time allows, walk on to the Baba stupa 400 metres east and compare the two. Seeing monuments designated on the same day within a short walk gives a fair sense of the range the local masons worked in.
Visiting the Five-Ringed Pagoda
The Five-Ringed Pagoda stands in the open with no gate and no reception desk. It can be seen at any hour, there is no admission charge, and photography is unrestricted.
The land around it is private farmland. There is no dedicated car park, and reaching the stupas means walking a narrow path between fields. Keep to the field margins and stay clear of any work in progress. After rain the ground turns soft, so choose footwear accordingly.
The site lies about five kilometres west of JR Imabari Station in a straight line, roughly fifteen minutes by car. Using public transport, take a Setouchi Bus service on the Kikuma route from the stop in front of Imabari Station and get off at Noma or Engi, then continue on foot. Departures are not frequent, so check the timetable first. Rental bicycles are available near Imabari Station and suit a circuit of the district.
Several other designated stone monuments stand nearby, including the Baba stupa 400 metres east and the hōkyōintō at Noma Shrine. Interpretive signboards mark some of them, which makes a walking route through the district easy to plan.
Access details were checked against Imabari City's map pages and the bus operator's route information on 4 September 2026.
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Q&A
- Can you visit the Five-Ringed Pagoda at Kakuan, and is there a fee?
- Yes. The stupas stand outdoors with no gate or reception, so they can be seen at any time, free of charge, and photography is unrestricted. They sit at the edge of a working field with no dedicated parking, so reach them on foot and keep clear of farm work.
- How large is the Five-Ringed Pagoda at Kakuan?
- The Ehime Prefectural Board of Education records the larger stupa at 240 centimetres, or 265 centimetres including the platform, and the smaller at 220 centimetres, or 245 centimetres with the platform. Both are granite and share a single stone platform.
- When was the Five-Ringed Pagoda made and when was it designated?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs database dates it to the late Kamakura period, between 1275 and 1332. As neither stupa is inscribed, the date rests on stylistic judgement. Designation as an Important Cultural Property came on 20 March 1954.
- Are there two or three Five-Ringed Pagodas at Noma in Imabari?
- Sources differ. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database lists the Kakuan pair under number 01279 and the Baba stupa, about 400 metres east, under 01280. Cultural Heritage Online records all three as one item of three units. All were designated on 20 March 1954.
- How do you reach the Five-Ringed Pagoda from JR Imabari Station?
- It lies about five kilometres west of the station in a straight line, roughly fifteen minutes by car. By bus, take a Setouchi Bus Kikuma route service from in front of Imabari Station and alight at Noma or Engi, then walk. Services are limited, so check the timetable in advance.
Basic Information
| Name | Five-Ringed Pagoda (Gorintō) |
|---|---|
| Location | 761 Noma-kō, Imabari, Ehime Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property |
| Year Designated | 20 March 1954 |
| Quantity | 2 stupas |
| Dimensions | Larger: 240 centimetres total height, 265 centimetres including the platform; smaller: 220 centimetres total height, 245 centimetres including the platform |
| Owner | Noma district community (managing body: Imabari City) |
| Public Access | Always accessible outdoors, no admission fee, photography permitted |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Five-Ringed Pagoda (1)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/3360
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Five-Ringed Pagoda (2)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/3361
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Five-Ringed Pagoda at 279 Noma-kō
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/3362
- Cultural Heritage Online: Five-Ringed Pagodas, three units
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/177763
- Imabari City map information, cultural properties: Five-Ringed Pagodas (Kakuan), 2 units
- https://www.city.imabari.ehime.jp/map/map/2172-kakuan.html
- Imabari City map information, cultural properties: Five-Ringed Pagoda (Baba), 1 unit
- https://www.city.imabari.ehime.jp/map/map/2171-baba.html
- Japan Heritage Portal: Noma Shrine and the stone monuments of the Noma district
- https://japan-heritage.bunka.go.jp/ja/culturalproperties/result/2518/
Last verified: 2026.09.04
Cultural Treasures in the Same Area
All are within walking distance in the same area, so we recommend visiting them together.
- Five-Ringed Tower (2) 0.00 km
- Five-Ringed Tower (1) 0.00 km