The garan layout of Kokubun-ji temples, being provincial temples established in each province of Japan by the Emperor Shomu in the Nara period, have one pagoda and one main hall in general; in this layout the pagoda was not built on the central pivot line of the garan but was built inside the corridors, or outside the corridors either on the east or the west side.
なお、奈良時代、聖武天皇の命で各地に建立された国分寺の伽藍配置を見ると、1塔1金堂形式が基本で、塔は伽藍の中軸線上には建たず、回廊の内側または外側の東または西に寄った位置に建っている。