<P> With the birth of new sects in later centuries, the pagoda lost importance and was consequently relegated to the margins of the garan . Temples of the Jōdo sects rarely have a pagoda . During the Kamakura period the Zen sect arrived in Japan and their temples do not normally include a pagoda . </P> <P> Pagodas originally were reliquaries and did not contain sacred images, but in Japan many, for example Hōryū - ji's five - storied pagoda, enshrine statues of various deities . To allow the opening of a room at the ground floor and therefore create some usable space, the pagoda's central shaft, which originally reached the ground, was shortened to the upper stories, where it rested on supporting beams . In that room are enshrined statues of the temple's main objects of worship . Inside Shingon pagodas there can be paintings of deities called Shingon Hasso (真言 八 祖); on the ceiling and on the central shaft there can be decorations and paintings . </P> <P> The edge of a pagoda's eaves forms a straight line, with each following edge being shorter than the other . The more difference in length (a parameter called teigen (逓減, gradual diminution) in Japanese) between stories, the more solid and secure the pagoda seems to be . Both teigen and the finial are greater in older pagodas, giving them a sense of solidity . Vice versa, recent pagodas tend to be steeper and have shorter finials, creating svelter silhouettes . </P> <P> From the structural point of view, old pagodas had a stone base (心 礎, shinso) over which stood the main pillar (心 柱, shinbashira). Around it would be erected the first story's supporting pillars, then the beams supporting the eaves and so on . The other stories would be built over the completed one, and on top of the main pillar would at last be inserted the finial . In later eras, all of the supporting structures would be erected at once, and later to them were fixed parts of more cosmetic function . </P>

The reason japanese pagoda roofs decline in size is