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context: architecture > buddhist temples
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Shitennoji's pagoda |
Shitennoji
Built in the late 6th Century by Prince Shotoku*, but there is no trace of the original buildings remaining. It was the first use of the Chinese-style pagoda in Japan.
* We see this kind of statement in books all the time, and obviously your average prince doesn't so much as lay a stone in such work. In this case it is particularly worth highlighting this point because the actual builders were Kongo Gumi Co., Ltd (probably not a limited company at that time, I realise), a building firm founded in 578AD. They also built Horyuji (see next page) and, a thousand years into their existence, Osaka Castle. Sadly, the firm went into liquidation in 2006, after 1428 years, making it the world's longest-running company.