juusanjuu-no-tou  十三重の塔
KEY WORD : architecture / buildings & structures
 
A thirteen-storied pagoda. The only wooden thirteen-storied pagoda extant is located at Danzan Jinja 談山神社 (1532) in Nara. Formerly it was a temple called Myourakuji 妙楽寺. It differs from the common three-storied or five-storied pagodas in many ways: 1 At the top of the two-stepped stone podium *kidan 基壇, there is a bun-shaped mound called *kamebara 亀腹 upon which a timber grid *igeta 井桁 is set. Pillars *hashira 柱 are placed at the corners and beams, ketabari 桁梁 are positioned on top of them to form a frame; 2 From the second story the beams are extended �at the corners to support the eave purlins *dashigeta 出桁; 3 This pagoda does not use bracket complexes *tokyou 斗きょう; 4 The central pillar *shinbashira 心柱, extends upward from a pillar base on the plank floor of the first story instead of rising from above the second story as was usual from the medieval period, (13c), onward; 5 The roof of the first story and the top roof are larger than the other eleven roofs; 6 The finial *sourin 相輪 has only seven rings. There are four pillars called *shitenbashira 四天柱 on the ground floor. The ceiling is a board ceiling. This type of pagoda is also called entou-zukuri 簷塔造 (eave pagoda style), because the body of the pagoda between roofs is so short that the entire building appears to be only roofs and eaves. The full height is 17.5m. Other wooden pagodas are known to have existed at Koufuukuji 興福寺 in Nara and at Kasagidera 笠置寺 in Kyoto.
The number of thirteen-storied stone pagodas increased rapidly during the Kamakura period. The largest extant one is located at Hannyaji 般若寺 (1253) in Nara. One dated 1230 at Myoudouji 明導寺 in Kumamoto prefecture, lost the two uppermost stories when destroyed by fire. It is now only an eleven-storied pagoda. The finial is thought to have been added later. The thirteen-storied stone pagoda located at the ruined temple of Rokutanidera 鹿谷寺 in Osaka (date unknown), is an example of a magaitou 磨崖塔, a pagoda cut from the living rock, in this case a soft stone tuff *gyoukaigan 凝灰岩. The pagoda was first cut in the shape of a pillar and then carved to look like a thirteen-storied pagoda. This method accounts for the shallow eaves and lack of eave curvature. A niche is carved just below the lowest eave, presumably to enshrine a Buddhist statue. It is 5.2m high from ground level.
 
Juusanjuu-sekihoutou 十三重石宝塔:Hannyaji 般若寺 (Nara) 
juusanjuu-sekihoutou 十三重石宝塔:Hannyaji 般若寺 (Nara) 

 
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