Etched Sorrow·Rakuchū / Demachiyanagi

Site of Shokoku-ji's Giant Pagoda

The site of a seven-storey pagoda raised by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1399 to the south-east of Shokoku-ji. It is said to have stood about 109 meters tall — far above the five-storey pagoda of To-ji (about 55 m) — a skyscraper of its age (accounts vary). Lightning and fire destroyed and rebuilt it in turn, until a blaze in 1470 erased it for good. Today only a stone marker remains in Tonodan-cho, on a plot also said to have been the residence of Saigo Takamori.

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These notes come from desk research. Local traditions vary.