向上寺 三重塔 Kojo-ji sanjyu-no-tou Three-story Pagoda at Kojoji Temple
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The three-story pagoda at Kojoji Temple in Onomichi City, Hiroshima Pref. was built in 1432 by the donation of two local merchants named Nobumoto and Nobumasa. This is a 3 x 3 bay three-story pagoda with a tile roof, which is 19 m tall to the tip of the vertical shaft at the top. Its well-balance shape and detailed decorations in Chinese styles are worth seeing. Especially beautiful are the fine carvings given to the end of bracket arms, the bracket complex under the corner rafters and the decorative metal pieces attached to the final on the pagoda. It is very rare that the upside-down lotus design is used to decorate the four corner pillars supporting the balustrades of each story and that the main pillars supporting the railing of the altar has a ball shape decorative objects (“hoju”) placed in Chinese style double-blossom lotus. The decorative struts set in the bracket complex take the shape of hanging petals. These gorgeous decorative designs were distinctive to the Seto Inland Sea area in those days. This pagoda is a fine example that shows a high cultural level of the Muromachi-period architecture.
- address
- 57 Setoda, Setoda-cho, Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan 722-2411
- name
- Three-story Pagoda at Kojoji Temple