Ka, fire, is the third of the Godai, the five elements of Japanese esoteric Buddhism, the element of energy, heat and force, the transformative and consuming, associated with passion, drive, motivation and the assertive and combative spirit. In the gorinto, the five-element stone pagoda, fire is the pyramid or triangular form set above the sphere of water, its upward-pointing shape expressing the rising, energetic nature of the element.
The five came to Japan through the esoteric Buddhist transmission from India by way of China, and were given systematic form in the Shingon school. In Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings the fire chapter treats the heat of battle, the decisive and aggressive aspect of combat. The Godai are an old and living element of Japanese Buddhist, martial and cultural tradition, descending through the Buddhist doctrine of the great elements rather than being modern; fire's associations with energy and transformation are part of that inherited scheme, shared in outline with the Indian and Chinese elemental systems from which it grew.