Buddhist Tower in Form of a Pagoda (Hokyointo)

This granite pagoda from the Kamakura period (1185-1333) is a hokyointo, a distinctively Japanese Buddhist monument that evolved from Indian stupas. The name comes from the Hokyoin dharani sutra it was designed to contain. As Buddhism spread from India through China to Japan, the memorial mound form transformed into increasingly elaborate stone and wooden towers. Japanese hokyointo began taking their present stone form during the Kamakura period.

The structure is divided into five sections representing the five elements of Japanese Buddhist cosmology: earth, water, fire, wind, and void. From the Kamakura period onward, these pagodas served primarily as funerary markers for important figures. Early Kamakura examples show straight petal-like projections, Sanskrit characters on the base, and curved window frames derived from wooden architecture. The piece is at the Art Institute of Chicago.