Ninna-ji Buddhist temple in Kyoto held the highest position among many Monzeki Temples, meaning that the chief priest of which was restricted to the Imperial family or high-ranking nobles. Since the completion in 886, it has engraved long history. But, most buildings on this temple ground were destroyed by the fire caused by Onin-no-Ran civil war in 1467. Thus the reconstruction work had begun since 1635 thanks to the donation from the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu in Edo, present Tokyo. And this three-storied pagoda in the first picture was completed in 1644. With the nearly same-sized roofs, this pagoda takes on a typical architectural design of the Edo period. To be more precise, please compare with the one in the second picture, which is Japan's oldest pagoda built in 607...Five -storied pagoda of Horyu-ji temple in Nara. Each roof gradually becomes smaller from the bottom to the top. This design is typical of those years.
Licensed tour guide, travel consultant,
Masahisa Takaki.
全国通訳案内士 高木聖久。
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