The pagoda is said to be constructed by Taira no Masakado. However, the current pagoda that we can see was rebuilt by Muto Masauji in the Muromachi period. Afterward, several repair works were conducted by Mogami Yoshiaki from the Mogami clan that governed the Shonai area in the Edo period, and by Sakai Tadasane, who was the federal load of Shonai. Taira no Masakado is an offspring of the Kanmu emperor in the Kansai area and raised a rebellion against the imperial court from 935 to 940, though he was defeated. 

Dewa sanzan is the general term for three mountains in Yamagata prefecture: Hagurosan, Gassan, and Yudonosan. Those mountains were used as Buddhist and Shintoist mountains until the Edo period.

Situated among the cedar trees of "Ichi no saka" upward sleep.  The five-storied pagoda is said to be the oldest tower in the Tohoku area. The current pagoda was reconstructed about 600 years ago. The height is 29.0 meters. It was designated as a national treasure in 1966. Nearby, there is a cedar tree, Jiji Sugi, aged over 1000 years old. The pagoda's roof part was built using Kokerabuki's unique construction method: constructing the roof with massive layers of thin wood boards. Though nine pagodas were built in the Muromachi era, the Haguro mountain's pagoda is the only one built with Kokerabuki. This is because Kokerabuki can bear the coldness and avoid freezing damage and heavy snow weight.

Q.Is five-storied pagodas (五重塔) a building for Buddhism or Shintoism?? 

In Japan, there are said to be more than 80 five-storied pagodas. They are considered as Buddha's graves, and therefore the buildings are for Buddhist use. However, we can see them also in shrines like the pagoda in Dewa Shrine and the one at Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima, why is it so? 

Since Buddhism was handed down to Japan, Buddhism and traditional Shintoism were in an amical relationship, rather than a contrasting and hostile relationship. Therefore, it was not unreasonable to have five-storied pagodas in the Shrines until the Edo period. In the Meiji period, the policy to divide Buddhism and Shintoism was implemented and many Buddhist institutions were destroyed. Even in that situation, thanks to the location of those pagodas in the Shrine, they were preserved. 

Dewa Shrine was also used to follow both Buddhism and Shintoism, which is why there is a pagoda in the shrine and why it could escape from the anti-Buddhism movement.