Abstract: 

In this paper, I reinvestigate what exactly “Many Treasures Tower” (Skt. prabhūta-ratna stupa; Ch. dobata; Jpn. tahōtō 多宝塔) is and is about in the larger context of the Lotus Sutra’s grand narrative.  I first look into a curious phenomenon that only in Japanese history the Buddhist stūpas by the name of  “Many Treasures Towers (tahōtō)” were built repeatedly so much so that it lead to the establishment of a specific architectural type.  In contrast, there is no example in other parts of Asia of “Many Treasures Towers” that had been built repeatedly with stylistical identity with that of the Japanese examples. 
In the second part of my paper, I suggest that a peculiar sectarian Japanese Buddhist reading/interpretation of the Lotus Sutra sections on the stupa caused the rise in Japan of the unique architectural type of prabhūta-ratuna stupa.  Once freed from the particular Japanese sectarian reading of the sutra, I suggest, the meaning of Prabhūta-ratuna stupa can be understood as directly relevant to the main themes of the Lotus Sutra, such as the importance of expedient means, and the attainment of the Buddhahood for sentient beings in the post-Buddha world.
Another related problem with pabhūta-ratna stupa is its relationship with the two Buddhas sitting side by side in that stupa.  Why did the images of the two Buddhas become far more popular throughout Asia as representing the Lotus Sutra than the stupa itself?  In the third and the last section of my paper I try to answer this question by pointing to the existing gap between the Japanese sectarian interpretation of the Lotus Sutra, on the one hand, and the pan-Asian popular understanding of the sutra, on the other.

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