Sutra mound

In the middle part of the Heian period, it was predicted that the mappō age would come into existence, and it was said that this would start in China and Korea.

The sutra tubes were small, but some hexagon-shaped boxes and two-storied pagoda shapes with affixed ornaments were found.

For Japanese buildings, in 1007, Fujiwara no Michinaga built the oldest sutra mound at the summit of Kinpusen, a mountain range in Yamato Province.

In the middle of the 12th century, a monk who traveled around the country went around handing out copies of the sutras to the masses as a way of improving his spirit and puja.

While the ritual burial of sūtra, typically on paper, is known from over two thousand two hundred sites, at several that date to the late-Heian period, clay tile sutras (瓦経, gakyō) have been found.