Edo

Eijuji's Kyozo is a tiny mud-walled storehouse, about three metres square, in the temple's northeast. Plaster walls and a pyramidal roof guarded its scriptures.

Joined to the east of Eijuji's main hall, the kuri and shoin form its largest building: a kitchen with earthen floor and stove, and two formal fifteen-mat rooms.

Eijuji's mountain gate is a four-legged zelkova structure carved in 1794 by the noted Shinshu Tatekawa school, its beams wrapped in deep three-dimensional relief.

On the west of Eijuji's front garden, the shuryo was the monks' communal quarters. An earthen passage runs east, and six rooms of graded size fill two rows.

Southwest of Eijuji's main hall stands the zendo, a meditation hall of 1722. A gabled canopy fronts it; tatami fills the center, board floors run along the sides.

The Kuri (priests' quarters) of Enmyō-ji in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, is an unusual structure that began life as a merchant townhouse in the late Edo-period castle town and was relocated and reassembled within the temple precinct in the mid-Meiji period. With a gabled pantile roof and a footprint of about 314 square meters, it was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2012. As a rare surviving example of a castle-town machiya repurposed as a temple residence, it pairs naturally with a walk through Inuyama's preserved old town and a visit to nearby Inuyama Castle.

Standing in Inuyama's historic temple district just minutes from the National Treasure castle, the Enmyo-ji Belfry is a three-meter-square open-sided bell tower built between 1661 and 1751. Its Zen-style structural body, densely packed two-stepped brackets, jar-strut gable decoration, and deeply curved eaves earned it Registered Tangible Cultural Property status in 2012. Discover a hidden architectural gem set within a temple famous for its 300-year-old weeping cherry tree.

Discover Enmyoji Temple's Main Hall, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Inuyama, Aichi. Built in the early Edo period and renovated in 1689, this Jodo Shinshu sanctuary preserves rare architectural features and stands beside a magnificent 300-year-old weeping cherry tree.

Ome Shrine sits on a wooded hill in Seto City's Akazu district, listed in Japan's tenth-century shrine register and home to a Main Hall built in 1805 by local master carpenters. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in March 2024, this elegant sanken-sha nagare-zukuri sanctuary stands beside a seventh-century burial mound in the heart of Akazu—one of Japan's six ancient pottery centers.

A small late-Edo gate at the former Okumura merchant house in Inuyama, Aichi: black-plastered front, white rear, just six square meters, registered in 1999.

Discover the Onoda Family Residence Nagayamon in Toyohashi, Aichi — a registered tangible cultural property built in 1849 by a village headman inspired by Edo samurai gate architecture. Explore its history, architectural significance, and visiting tips.

The Main Hall of Kagaku-ji Temple in Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture, is a Rinzai Zen hōjō-style hall reconstructed in 1684 with funds from the family of Kira Yoshinaka — the historical figure at the center of Japan's legendary Forty-Seven Rōnin tale. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property, this remarkably preserved structure retains most of its original 17th-century timber. Discover the Kira clan's legacy, imperial treasures, and the rich historical landscape of the Kira district.

At Kakuo-ji, a Rinzai temple in Fuso, Aichi, the 1840 kuri is a Registered Cultural Property: a 24-meter temple kitchen with a roof smoke vent and a decorated gable.

Kakuo-ji Dainichido in Fuso, Aichi is a small 1794 worship hall, one of five registered buildings that together preserve an intact Edo-period Zen temple precinct.

A thatched late-Edo farmhouse south of Nagoya Station, built by the local yotsudate method, its garden pine said to model the old pine on the Nagoya Noh stage.

The Kozenji Kuri in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, is a nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1830 on the ruins of a medieval castle. This Edo-period kitchen hall of a Rinzai Zen temple founded by the samurai Kajiwara Kagetoki features exquisite traditional timber craftsmanship including rainbow beams and a distinctive smoke-vent dormer. Located near National Treasure Inuyama Castle, it offers a serene glimpse into centuries of warrior heritage and Zen monastic life.

Discover the Kokonoe Mirin Okura, a registered tangible cultural property in Hekinan, Aichi. Built in 1706 and relocated in 1787, this historic warehouse is the symbol of Japan's oldest mirin brewery with over 300 years of history.

A small late-Edo tea pavilion in a 400-year-old sake brewer's compound in Inuyama, its red bengara walls a registered piece of the old castle-town streetscape.

Zaikaji Temple Main Hall, a registered Edo-period hall on a mountainside in Aichi, was rebuilt in 1823 by carpenter Okada Gozaemon and shelters a hidden Kannon.

In Toyokawa, Aichi, Zaikaji's Monju-do is a registered 1859 timber hall by carpenter Okada Gozaemon, housing a hidden Manjushri and a working goma fire altar.