Japanese pagoda lanterns give a nod to Japanese history.
While they’ve taken on many different forms and popped up in many locations for hundreds or thousands of years, they have also maintained one common meaning:
- imparting tranquility
- expressing Buddhist values
- and expressing the beauty of nature.
History of Japanese Pagoda Lanterns
Initially pagoda lanterns were designed with a religious purpose.
Before they arrived in Japan from China in the early 7th century, there were ancient stone or silver lanterns used in temples to illuminate Buddhist temples in China.
The light in the lanterns was an offering to the Buddha, as a symbol of his teachings to overcome ignorance (darkness).
The Japanese also employed them in Shinto shrines and temples.
In the 16th century pagoda lanterns started to be seen in private homes and gardens.
To this end: They started to appear in a variety of sizes and architectural shapes, each used to signify different figures, aspects of nature and events in life.
What are Some of the Various Meanings of Japanese Pagoda Lanterns?
For the Japanese, stone pagoda lanterns, referred to as tōrōs, are still popular garden features to highlight a certain aspect of landscape design or particular spot (like as at a larger temple) to add character onto the property or light a pathway.
But they have many other meanings and functions as well.
These include:
- In addition to still serving as symbolic offerings to Buddha, pagoda lanterns are believed to lead spirits to a home and then back to a resting place to finish the festival, during Japan’s Obon Festival.
- Display the significance of a tranquil place of worship or contemplation. They are used to create harmony and balance and to showcase the perpetual time of the garden.
- Originally, pagodas with five levels referenced the five elements of Buddhist cosmology: earth, wind, fire, water, and void. Some pagoda lanterns retain this significance in their levels. A seven-story pagoda referenced the seven treasures of Buddhism and seven northern stars.
- Symbolize nature and the significance in finding beauty in nature despite its flaws.
- Different styles of pagoda lanterns also have meaning specific to their form. For example, the Yukimi-gata lantern’s morphology communicates the life cycle. The dai-dōrō symbolizes the five elements, the construction was the idea that when one dies their body will return to its elemental original form.
- The different parts of the dai-dōrō symbolize the elements, for instance, the base that touches the ground signifies earth or chi. The tach-gata, pedestal lanterns, are usually wavy and symbolize a lotus flower, which is a symbol of improvements in one’s career and increases in wealth according to Japanese culture.
What are the Different Sizes and Materials Used in Japanese Pagoda Lanterns?
These days you will typically find two types of pagoda lanterns in Japan:
- Hanging lanterns – which you usually find at a temple or shrine
- And standing lanterns – which usually take the form of modern garden statues, derived from those used in traditional gardens, or Nihon teien.
Hanging lanterns tend to be made of wood, copper, or metal and can have four or six sides. They are typically smaller than the garden pagoda lantern statue.
Larger bronze lanterns, like the hanging type, can also be found at shrines, but are less common than hanging lanterns.
Hanging lanterns, or tsuridourou, usually hang from the eaves of a shrine roof, some are even used to line a pathway to a large pagoda or shrine.
Standing lanterns are made from natural-colored cut stone, granite, and relevantly, concrete or bronze. They typically come in a cylindrical shape.
They use a form of a pole and base, a platform, an open or closed box-shaped area on the platform called the lightbox, a form of umbrella or roof, and a top element or finial often referred to as a crown gem.
The base and poles of most standing lanterns will be either square or round-shaped; moreover, the platform, umbrellas, and other elements of a standing lantern can vary upon size and function!
Some lanterns are specifically made to be placed near water, such as the Yukimi or Misaki tōrō.
Certain stone lanterns are made to have a more aged appearance than they actually have by weathering or accumulating moss.
Today’s Japanese pagoda lanterns fit into three basic classes:
- The taima-Ji is the oldest type, at 6 feet tall, and consists of 6 main parts.
- The second style is distinguished by an oversized middle section and lightbox it takes a squat stature and is a type of traditional Korean temple light.
- The final style is garden-specific; in other words, it is built to be used only in the garden. They come in various patterns and shapes: some do not even contain pedestals; and some are for very specific uses such as the Yukimi (or snow viewing) lantern.
Today’s modern garden pagoda lanterns often have Sanskrit letters or Buddhist symbols on them.
In Conclusion
Pagoda lanterns originated in 600 A.D. as a religious object but have emerged as a much-loved and identifiable symbol of Japan.
Although in Japan they are still commonly seen as part of large pagoda, temple, and shrine architecture, the legacy of pagoda lanterns is found in the popular stone-style standing lanterns that have been and continue to be used in Japanese gardens, both public and private, spread widely throughout the country.
Although those lanterns continue to represent the philosophies of Buddhism and Japanese culture, their simplicity and elegance are recognized across the globe.
Many public and private gardens in various forms, from the United States to Poland, are now highlighted by stone pagoda-like lanterns.
Their existence brings a little more peace to the world we live in.