According to an old painting, 'Yamato meisho zue,' (Beauty spots in Yamato), the pagoda had a top layer of Hiwadabuki roofing (a style of roofing with the bark of hinoki, Japanese cypress) in Kansei era, but it was cast away during the movement of the Exclusion of Buddhism in Meiji period.
「大和名所図絵」によれば、寛政年間には檜皮葺きの上層部があったが、明治に入ってからの廃仏毀釈の中で取り払われた。