Ishiyama-dera Temple’s Tahō-tō Pagoda

　The *Lotus Sutra* is one of the most important scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism. It is said that whilst Shakyamuni Buddha was expounding the *Lotus Sutra*, a gigantic pagoda adorned with the Seven Treasures sprang up from the earth and floated in the air. The Tahō-tō pagoda derives its origin from this legend, and the Tahō-tō at Ishiyama-dera Temple, erected in 1194, is considered to be the oldest of its kind in Japan.

　The pagoda stands 17 metres tall, with a square base and a circular second storey, featuring a roof thatched with cypress bark and a bronze finial. Its exquisite balance further enhances its beauty; Masako Shirasu, an essayist who devoted her life to exploring Japanese aesthetics, praised it as ‘the most elegant and beautiful Tahō-tō I have ever seen’.