A Pagoda That Outlasted the Fires of 1585
On a wooded slope above the Arida River in western Wakayama, a two-storied pagoda stands a short climb beyond the main hall of Jōmyō-ji. It rises 12.95 meters to the tip of its finial, and carpenters raised it in the middle of the Kamakura period, in roughly the latter half of the thirteenth century. The building is a tahōtō, a Japanese pagoda type with a square lower story and a rounded upper story set beneath a square pyramidal roof of formal tiling.
Jōmyō-ji belongs to the Myōshinji branch of the Rinzai Zen school, and its mountain name is Iōzan. Most visitors climb the slope for this pagoda. It is one of several nationally designated treasures the temple has held through more than seven centuries of fire, neglect, and revival.
How the Temple Survived
Temple tradition places the founding in 806, crediting the Tang monk Nyohō, a disciple of Ganjin, and linking it to Fujiwara no Otomuro, mother of Emperor Heizei. The account does not hold together on dates: Otomuro died in 790, so it cannot be read literally. The temple's earliest verifiable prosperity belongs to the late twelfth century, when the local lord Miyazaki Sadanori granted it land in 1169.
The decisive year was 1585. During Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign against the Kishū region, fire swept through the complex and consumed the halls along with the temple's records. Two buildings escaped: the Yakushi-dō, now the main hall, and this pagoda, both set deep enough in the forest to be passed over. The ruined temple sat idle for decades, until Tokugawa Yorinobu, the first lord of the Kishū domain, restored it in 1647.
Why It Was Designated
The pagoda received national protection on 29 August 1904 and ranks today as an Important Cultural Property. Its value rests on age and on the company it keeps. Wakayama holds an unusual concentration of tahōtō, from the giant 36-meter tower at Negoro-ji down to reliquary-scale models barely two meters tall, and the Jōmyō-ji pagoda belongs among the older survivors in that group.
Look up at the upper story and the carpentry rewards the attention. The brackets are built out in four stepped tiers, and the eaves carry a double row of rafters, an arrangement more elaborate than the modest scale of the building first suggests.
What to Look For Inside
The interior is the reason to linger. On the central altar sit the Five Wisdom Buddhas, the group of five tathāgatas arranged around Dainichi, the cosmic Buddha of esoteric teaching. The wooden walls behind them carry painted portraits of the Eight Patriarchs of the Shingon lineage, and the four outer walls bear scenes of the Eight Phases in the life of the historical Buddha, from his birth to his passing into nirvana.
These paintings are designated in their own right, as a Tangible Cultural Property of Wakayama Prefecture rather than a national one. Pigment this old fades and flakes, so the interior is not always open. When it is, the low light asks your eyes to settle before the figures resolve on the boards.
The Grounds and Getting There
The pagoda shares the hillside with the rest of what survived the fire. The main hall, another mid-Kamakura building, is a nationally designated structure in its own right; inside it stand a seated Yakushi Buddha with two attendants and a set of Twelve Heavenly Generals, all designated sculpture. A dais decorated with lotus-and-arabesque mother-of-pearl inlay, also national, counts among the finer pieces of Kamakura craft in the prefecture.
The site sits high enough to look out toward Awaji Island on a clear day, and roses bloom across the grounds in May. From Minoshima Station on the JR Kinokuni Line it is about ten minutes on foot, or a short local bus ride to the Jōmyō-ji-mae stop. By car it is roughly twenty minutes from the Arida interchange on the Hanwa Expressway, with parking near the gate.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the pagoda?
- Interior openings are occasional and tied to the conservation of the wall paintings. The grounds are generally open, but check with the temple before counting on access to the inside.
- What is a tahōtō?
- A two-storied Buddhist pagoda with a square lower floor and a round upper floor under a pyramidal roof. The form took shape in Japan and is closely linked to esoteric Buddhism.
- How old is it?
- It was built in the middle of the Kamakura period, around the latter half of the thirteenth century, and was first designated for protection in 1904.
- What else is worth seeing at Jōmyō-ji?
- The main hall, the seated Yakushi triad, the Twelve Heavenly Generals, and the inlaid dais are all designated cultural properties on the same grounds.
- When is a good time to visit?
- May brings roses across the grounds, and clear days open up views toward Awaji Island. The hilltop setting is pleasant in most seasons.
Basic Information
| Name | Jōmyō-ji Tahōtō (Multi-treasure Pagoda) |
|---|---|
| Location | Miyazaki-chō, Arida City, Wakayama Prefecture |
| Temple | Jōmyō-ji, Iōzan (Rinzai Zen, Myōshinji branch) |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (structure), nationally designated 29 August 1904 |
| Period | Mid-Kamakura period (latter half of the 13th century) |
| Structure | Three-bay, two-storied tahōtō; square pyramidal roof, formal tile (hongawarabuki) |
| Height | 12.95 m to the top of the finial |
| Interior | Five Wisdom Buddhas on the altar; wall paintings of the Eight Shingon Patriarchs and the Eight Phases of the Buddha's life (Wakayama Prefecture-designated) |
| Owner | Jōmyō-ji |
| Access | About 10 min on foot from Minoshima Station (JR Kinokuni Line); about 20 min by car from Arida IC (Hanwa Expressway) |
References
- Jōmyō-ji Tahōtō | Arida City Official Website
- https://www.city.arida.lg.jp/kurashi/sportsbunka/bunka/1000911/1000915.html
- Jōmyō-ji | Arida City Official Website
- https://www.city.arida.lg.jp/kanko/miruasobu/1001429.html
- Routes to the Pagodas of Wakayama | Wakayama Cultural Properties
- https://wakayama-bunkazai.jp/map_content/map_content-6243/
- Jōmyō-ji (Arida) | Wikipedia
- https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/浄妙寺_(有田市)
Last verified: 2026.06.05