Zuto Tower

The Zutō (頭塔) is a Buddhist relic monument built in 767 CE during the Nara period, tucked into the quiet Takabatake neighborhood of Nara. It takes the form of a ten-meter earthen step pyramid with seven square terraces — a strikingly rare pyramidal structure in a country with almost no comparable examples. Stone Buddha images are carved into all four faces of its layered stone courses. The name translates literally as 'head tower', a detail that has fueled local legend about what lies buried beneath. Designated a National Historic Site in 1953, the Zutō sees few visitors today: the stonework is partly exposed, partly reclaimed by vegetation, lending the site the atmosphere of a genuinely overlooked sacred ruin.