Paper short abstract:

This paper will explore Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's aims in constructing a massive seven-storied pagoda in the esoteric style at his Zen complex of Shōkokuji in 1399. It will be argued that this pagoda was built in order to legitimize the kingship of the Muromachi regime.

Paper long abstract:

Historians of medieval Buddhism once characterized Heian period esoteric Buddhism (*mikkyō*) as a system of miscellaneous beliefs that began to be eclipsed by an unsullied form of Pure Land Buddhism starting in the mid-Heian period. Emphasizing rebirth in the Pure Land after death, this style of Buddhism went on to develop into the Pure Land Buddhism of Hōnen (1133-1212) that flourished in medieval society. However, as is well known, even after the rise of the Pure Land lineages, esoteric Buddhism continued to enjoy a place of prominence in medieval society. In particular, the two-realm mandala (ryōkai mandara), which forms the basis of esoteric thought, was used to express the legitimacy of imperial authority, which, in turn, was presented as the cornerstone of Buddhism's flourishing in medieval Japan.

It was this ideology that first informed the building of Emperor Shirakawa's (1053-1129) elaborate Hosshōji complex, an imperially ordered temple (goganji). There, the main hall and the nine-storied pagoda that served as the center of the monastic compound formed a two-realm mandala. The nine-storied pagoda, said to have measured 81 meters in height, towered over medieval Kyoto, serving as a very visible symbol of the power and authority of the retired emperor. Just over two centuries later, Muromachi shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408) would make a similar architectural gesture in the building of his Shōkokuji complex. At this Zen temple, Yoshimitsu built a seven-storied pagoda that soared a staggering 109 meters and also symbolized a two-realm mandala. This paper will explore Yoshimitsu's aims in constructing this massive pagoda in the esoteric style at his Zen complex. In doing so, it will argue that this pagoda was built in order to legitimize the kingship of the Muromachi regime.