Relatively short pagodas such as three-storey and five-storey varieties are often made of wood but many of the taller ones such as the thirteen-story pagoda at Tanzan-jinja Shrine are made of stone.
三重塔・五重塔などのように階層が低い場合は木造建築のものが多いが、談山神社の十三重塔のように階層が高くなると石造のものが多い。