Kiyomorizuka

Kiyomori-zuka is a thirteen-tier stone pagoda associated with Taira no Kiyomori, located in Hyogo Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture. For many years, this site was believed to be Kiyomori’s grave, but an investigation in 1923 (Taisho 12) determined that it is not a burial site. In recent research, the prevailing view is that it is a memorial pagoda erected to mourn Kiyomori. Access is about a 12-minute walk from Hyogo Station on the JR Kobe Line, or about a 7-minute walk from Chuoichiba-mae Station on the Kobe Municipal Subway. A tradition that the Kamakura shogunate regent Hojo Sadatoki built the pagoda to pray for Kiyomori’s repose has circulated since the early Edo period. The pagoda is about 8.5 meters tall, and an inscription on the thirteen tiers records the date February 1286 (Koan 9) from the Kamakura period. More than 730 years later, it still towers over Kobe as a landmark linked to Kiyomori and is carefully maintained by the local community. Next to the pagoda stand a statue of Taira no Kiyomori erected in 1968 (Showa 43) and a Biwa-zuka monument honoring Taira no Tsunemasa, Kiyomori’s nephew and a famed biwa player. Also in Hyogo Ward is Nofuku-ji Temple, another site associated with Taira no Kiyomori.