The five-story pagoda of Iinuma Kannon stretched spontaneously toward the sky

Even today, pagodas in Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia, especially in Myanmar, often play a leading role and stand at the center of the temple grounds, but in Japan, they have somehow been freed from their original purpose. In the Asuka-ji style, the pagoda was placed in the center of the temple, but as time went by, it came to be regarded as mere decoration in the Shitenno-ji, Horyu-ji, and Yakushi-ji styles, and in the Todai-ji style, it was placed outside the cloister, and in the Daian-ji style, it was relegated to outside the main gate. Originally an important structure for storing the Buddha's bones, the Buddha statue has been replaced in Japan by the Buddha statue that sits in the main hall of the temple, and now plays only a minor role.

Perhaps because they have been relieved of their original burden, the pagodas seem to soar toward the sky in a spontaneous manner. The same is true of the five-story pagoda at Iinuma Kannon in Choshi. The five-story pagoda, which was bathed in sunlight, was so vigorously stretching toward the sky that it was no wonder that the number of nine rings with jewels on them had increased by the time I noticed the pagoda. The five-story pagoda here also serves as a Yakushi Hall and a multi-treasured pagoda, and inside it seems to be a statue of Yakushi Nyorai (the Medicine Buddha), not Buddha’s ashes.

Comment via

日本語