Omuro Pagoda

Ninna-ji temple in the Omuro district of northwestern Kyoto possesses a five-story pagoda erected in the late seventeenth century, one of the few Edo-period pagodas surviving in Kyoto and a designated National Treasure. The pagoda rises from a broad stone base surrounded by the temple's extensive cherry orchard—the Omuro cherries (Omuro no [Sakura](/glossary/sakura)) are a celebrated late-blooming variety—making it among the most painted and printed landmarks in the city. Without seasonal foliage, this composition would emphasize the pagoda's architectural geometry: the diminishing eave tiers, the finial, and the precise interlocking of bracket systems. Kotozuka's carvers would have spent considerable effort on the linework defining each tier's bracketing and curved eave edges, while the color blocks supply the warm gray of aged tile and the soft tones of the surrounding cypress and pine.