KYOTO, JAPAN—Archaeologists with the Kyoto City Archaeological Research Institute say they have unearthed fragments of a huge sorin, the decorative finial placed atop a pagoda, on the grounds of the Kinkakuji temple. They think the fragments may have been part of the sorin that stood on the Kitayama Daito, a pagoda constructed under the orders of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, starting in 1404. The Kitayama Daito is thought to have had seven tiers and may have been the largest pagoda ever built in Japan. But it was struck by lightning burned down in 1416, shortly before it was completed. According to a report in the Asahi Shimbun, the measurements of the fragments, made of gold-plated copper, suggest that the finished sorin measured almost eight feet in diameter. For more on archaeology in Japan, go to "Khubilai Khan Fleet."
