Pagoda and Asian gates
Design a Japanese, Chinese, Korean or stone pagoda, a Thai chedi, a torii, a Chinese memorial gate or a Japanese temple gate. Every storey gets narrower, and the roofs reach far out and curl up at the corners with stairs and slabs. Click blocks you have placed to keep track of where you are.
Pick an example as a starting point and adjust it afterwards.
Front view
Top view
Dark half = high side of a stair. An upside-down stair has an open square. Light area = bottom slab, light area with a stripe = top slab.
Build breakdown
Per layer, from bottom to top
| Layer | Part | Blocks | Stairs | Slabs |
|---|
Layer 1, row by row
The whole layer, from front to back. Start counts from the left side of the design.
| Row | Start | Pattern | Pieces |
|---|
Build tips
- Build storey by storey: first the posts, then the walls, then the brackets and finally the roof. That way you always have something to build against.
- Start a roof at the corners. Place the curl there (a stair with the high side facing out) and work from there towards the middle of the side.
- You place upside-down stairs by clicking the top half of a block. They form the brackets under the eave.
- Use fences for the balcony railings. In the schematic file they become dark oak fences.
- A classic colour choice: red posts (for example mangrove planks or red terracotta), white walls, dark roof tiles (deepslate tiles) and gold for the sorin.
- Choose "Per part" in the block palette to give posts, walls, beams, brackets, roof, railing and finial each their own block.
3D and layer-by-layer build plan
To Minecraft
Download the design as a schematic file and paste it into your world with WorldEdit, or rebuild it with a hologram in Litematica.
Shopping list
Put the amounts of this design on your list. There you see everything together, converted to stacks and shulker boxes.
How it is calculated
History and fun facts
From stupa to pagoda
The pagoda comes from India. There, Buddhists built the stupa: a round mound of stone that held relics of the Buddha or of holy people.
When Buddhism reached China around the start of the Common Era, the stupa changed into a tower with storeys. Later the pagoda travelled on to Korea, and in the sixth century to Japan.
What was a pagoda for?
A pagoda is not a house to live in. It is a monument that keeps holy objects and texts. People walk around it as a form of prayer.
Most pagodas have an odd number of storeys, such as three, five, seven or thirteen. On top there is often a spire with rings, called a sorin in Japan.
Wood, stone and brick
In Japan pagodas are usually made of wood. The roofs stick out far to protect the walls from rain. Brackets made of blocks fitted into each other carry these heavy roofs without nails.
A thick central pillar, the shinbashira, often runs through the middle. It helps the tower stay up during earthquakes. In China and Korea many pagodas are made of brick or stone, such as the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an and Seokgatap in Korea.
In Thailand and Myanmar the stupa is called a chedi or zedi. These are bell shaped and often covered with gold.
Gates: torii and paifang
A torii is a Japanese gate at a Shinto shrine. It marks the border between the ordinary world and holy ground. There are many forms, from a straight shinmei torii to the curved myōjin torii.
China has the paifang, an honorary gate with one, three or five openings and small roofs. They stood at tombs, temples and at the start of streets. Japanese temples have their own gate building, sometimes with two storeys.
Where can you still see them?
The five storey pagoda of Hōryū-ji in Nara is one of the oldest wooden buildings in the world. The pagoda of Tō-ji in Kyoto is the tallest wooden pagoda in Japan.
At the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto, paths run under thousands of red torii. The large torii of Itsukushima seems to float on the water at high tide. The Shwedagon in Yangon is a golden zedi about 100 metres tall.
Did you know?
- The pagoda of Tō-ji in Kyoto is about 55 metres tall.
- The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an was built in 652 to keep Buddhist texts from India.
- The Iron Pagoda in Kaifeng is not made of iron but of brick with iron coloured tiles.
- Palsangjeon at Beopjusa temple is the only five storey wooden pagoda still standing in Korea.
- Hōryū-ji has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1993.
- The builders of the Tokyo Skytree were inspired by the central pillar of wooden pagodas.
About this tool
With this Minecraft pagoda generator you design a Japanese, Chinese or Korean pagoda, a stone pagoda or a Thai chedi. You can also make gates: torii in five forms, a Chinese paifang gate or a Japanese temple gate with one or two storeys. Examples include Hōryū-ji, Tō-ji, the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, the Liuhe Pagoda, Seokgatap, the Shwedagon, Fushimi Inari and Itsukushima.
You choose a square, hexagonal or octagonal plan, the number of storeys and how fast the tower gets narrower. The roofs stick out far and curve up at the corners with stairs and slabs. You set the overhang, the roof pitch, the curve, the brackets, a balcony with railing, doors and the finial, such as a sorin or a gourd.
The front view and top view help you see the shape. The layer plan shows exactly where each stair and slab goes and which way it faces. Click blocks you have placed to keep track of your progress. In the 3D preview you can look at the design from all sides.
With the block palette you give the posts, walls, brackets, roof and finial their own block. The materials counter adds up blocks, stairs and slabs. Download the design as a .schem file for WorldEdit or Litematica.
Useful if you want to build a Minecraft Japanese temple, a Chinese garden or an Asian village. Also see the Asian buildings.
Frequently asked questions
How do I build a pagoda in Minecraft?
Build one storey at a time: first the posts, then the walls, then the brackets and finally the roof. Start each roof at the corners with the curl and work towards the middle of the side.
How do I make a curved Japanese roof?
Put a stair at the corner with its high side facing out. With Corner curve you decide how many blocks the corner rises. Along the side you fill in with stairs and slabs, as the layer plan shows.
Which colours suit a pagoda?
A classic choice is red posts of mangrove wood or red terracotta, white walls, dark roof tiles of deepslate tiles and gold for the sorin.
How do I make the brackets under the roof?
Brackets are upside down stairs. You place them by clicking the top half of a block. Choose 1 to 3 layers of brackets, all around or only at the posts.
Can I make a row of torii like at Fushimi Inari?
Yes. Choose Gate, pick a torii, and increase the number of torii in a row. With Space between the torii you decide how close together they stand.
Does this work in Bedrock?
You can follow the layer plan in any version. The .schem file is for Java Edition with WorldEdit or Litematica.