Keywords
Architecture
General Terms
A heavy wooden plank placed above the ceiling of the first story of a two-storied pagoda *tahōtō 多宝塔; most three-storied pagodas *sanjū-no-tō 三重塔; and some five-storied pagodas *gojū-no-tō 五重塔 from the 10th century on. The ban was used to support the central pillar *shinbashira 心柱. Examples: Kontaiji Tahōtō 金胎寺多宝塔 (ca. 1300) in Kyoto; Ichijōji Sanjū-no-tō 一乗寺三重塔 (1171) in Hyōgo Prefecture; and Myōōin Gojū-no-tō 明王院五重塔 (1349) in Hiroshima Prefecture.