• A very nicely made hyakumanto. The religious pagoda is made from Japanese hinoki, or cedar wood and has been stained a warm, burnished brown and coated with a fine lacquer finish. The top spire can be removed to store your prayers and wishes.
  • A very nicely made hyakumanto. The religious pagoda is made from Japanese hinoki, or cedar wood and has been stained a warm, burnished brown and coated with a fine lacquer finish. The top spire can be removed to store your prayers and wishes.
  • A very nicely made hyakumanto. The religious pagoda is made from Japanese hinoki, or cedar wood and has been stained a warm, burnished brown and coated with a fine lacquer finish. The top spire can be removed to store your prayers and wishes.
  • A very nicely made hyakumanto. The religious pagoda is made from Japanese hinoki, or cedar wood and has been stained a warm, burnished brown and coated with a fine lacquer finish. The top spire can be removed to store your prayers and wishes.
  • A very nicely made hyakumanto. The religious pagoda is made from Japanese hinoki, or cedar wood and has been stained a warm, burnished brown and coated with a fine lacquer finish. The top spire can be removed to store your prayers and wishes.
  • A very nicely made hyakumanto. The religious pagoda is made from Japanese hinoki, or cedar wood and has been stained a warm, burnished brown and coated with a fine lacquer finish. The top spire can be removed to store your prayers and wishes.
  • A very nicely made hyakumanto. The religious pagoda is made from Japanese hinoki, or cedar wood and has been stained a warm, burnished brown and coated with a fine lacquer finish. The top spire can be removed to store your prayers and wishes.
  • A very nicely made hyakumanto. The religious pagoda is made from Japanese hinoki, or cedar wood and has been stained a warm, burnished brown and coated with a fine lacquer finish. The top spire can be removed to store your prayers and wishes.
1 8

My Store

vintage japanese hyakumanto pagoda, buddhist prayer pagoda

vintage japanese hyakumanto pagoda, buddhist prayer pagoda

¥28,712 JPY
¥28,712 JPY
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.

Love Japan Style Like We Do

A very nicely made hyakumanto. The religious pagoda is made from Japanese hinoki, or cedar wood and has been stained a warm, burnished brown and coated with a fine lacquer finish. The top spire can be removed to store your prayers and wishes. 

The hyakumanto comes in it’s original box which has been signed on the outside of the lid by the artist, Zen, and stamped with his seal on the inside of the lid.

The vintage pagoda is in very good condition and measures 22 cm (8.6”) tall x 9 cm (3.5”) in diameter.

- box measures 24.5 cm (9.6”) tall x 13 cm (5.1”) across x 13 cm
(5.1”) deep.
- weighs 620gm.

(listing for hyakumoto only)

SHIPPING INFORMATION
- please read our shipping policy.
- we use recycle packaging wherever possible and wrap for safety, rather than appearance!

HYAKUMANTO (ONE MILLION PAGODA)
During the Nara Period (764 A.D) the Prime Minister started a rebellion against the Empress Shotoku. A week later the rebellion was stopped, but just to be safe the Empress made many prayers that this kind of uprising would never occur again. In her prayers, she vowed to have one million three-story pagodas (Hyakumanto) made. Each pagoda had the year, month and day painted on the bottom. It seems most of the pagodas were made between 767-769 A.D.

The Nara Period was over 1200 years ago and in those days there were very limited types of tools, so, the craftsmen who made the pagodas must have worked very hard. Made of wood, when the pagodas were finished, they were coated with a layer of white chalk.

We can see from the remaining Hyakumanto that each one has three stories and measures just over 20 centimeters in height. At the top of the three stories is a decorative spire called a "finial". The finial is removable revealing a hollow space inside the body of the Hyakumanto. Inside this space, there is a rolled scroll that has a "dharani" written on it. A dharani is a Buddhist sutra (sacred Buddhist scripture).

The small scrolls inside eac Hyakuamto are believed to be amongst the oldest printed papers in Japan and the world.

The One Million Pagodas were to sent to of the largest temples of the day. The only temple today that still has any original ones is Horyu-ji. Today, Horyu-ji has about 43,000 Hykumanto.

View full details