Nara period (8th century)
Donated by the Homma family
This small wooden pagoda is one of the million small pagodas commissioned by Emperor Shotoku in 770. The body of each pagoda contains a dharani, or woodblock printed Buddhist invocation, on which are written prayers for long life and protection from disaster. These are said to be the oldest surviving printed material of their kind in the world.
While one million pagodas were built and dedicated to the ten great temples of Nara — among them Todaiji, Hōryuji, Yakushiji and Kōfukuji — many of them were destroyed by fire, and today the only extant examples survive in Hōryūji. In fact, this particular wooden pagoda was given by Hōryūji to the Homma family in 1908 as thanks for a donation.