Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan

In Ome, Tokyo, the main house of Sōshidō is a Meiji silk-farm dwelling that the novelist Yoshikawa Eiji redesigned himself around 1948, writing beside its garden.

In Ome, Tokyo, the storehouse of Sōshidō dates to 1847, the oldest on the grounds. Its ridge tag names it the wind-gate storehouse, set at the southeast corner.

In Ome, Tokyo, the nagayamon gate of Sōshidō is a late-Edo farmhouse entrance. Its wings sheltered wartime evacuees; later Yoshikawa Eiji used them to store books.

In Ome, Tokyo, the Western annex of Sōshidō held Yoshikawa Eiji's study. Built in late Meiji, it gathers materials from across Japan, from Seto tile to Ōya stone.

The Kiyokawa Shop in Nihonbashi Koamicho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, is the premises of Unagi Kiyokawa, a prestigious eel restaurant founded in 1874 during the Meiji era. The two-story wooden building, constructed in 1927 in the refined sukiya architectural style after the Great Kanto Earthquake, was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2018 as an exceptionally rare example of traditional wooden architecture surviving in central Tokyo. Beloved by literary giants including Tanizaki Junichiro and Watanabe Junichi, the restaurant continues to serve authentic Edo-style grilled eel prepared with a secret sauce that has been continuously replenished since its founding.

The Friends Center in Mita, Minato Ward, Tokyo, is a two-story wooden missionary residence designed by the Vories Architectural Office in 1922. As one of the very few pre-Great Kanto Earthquake Western-style buildings still standing in Tokyo, it was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2005. The building preserves distinctive Taisho-era architectural features including a slate hip roof, brick chimney, and tall sash windows.

Discover the Ginza Onoya Store and Main Residence, a precious wooden commercial building from 1951 that preserves the postwar streetscape of Ginza. This Registered Tangible Cultural Property is home to a traditional tabi shop with a unique pentagonal floor plan.

Discover the Ginza Lion Building, home to Japan's oldest surviving beer hall since 1934. A Registered Tangible Cultural Property featuring stunning glass mosaic murals, Art Deco design, and the timeless spirit of Tokyo's Ginza district.

Discover the Kurosawa Building, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Ueno, Tokyo. Built in 1930 as the Ogawa Eye Hospital, this Expressionist-style reinforced concrete building houses the final stained glass masterpieces of Ogawa Sanchi, Japan's pioneering stained glass artist.

Gengi Sanbo in Ogikubo, Suginami, Tokyo, is the former residence of Kadokawa Genyoshi, founder of KADOKAWA and renowned haiku poet. Designed by architect Kakurai Akio, this modern sukiya-style building is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property. Now open free as the Suginami Poetry Hall, visitors can explore the exhibition room, tea room, and a beautiful seasonal Japanese garden.

Kosugiyu is a working public bathhouse in the Kōenji district of Tokyo, in continuous operation since 1933 and listed in 2020 as a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property. With its temple-style curved gable, 287-square-metre wooden frame, signature milk bath, well-fed cold pool, and painted Mount Fuji on the wall, this is one of only three sentō within Tokyo to receive such a designation — a rare chance to soak in genuine architectural heritage for the price of an ordinary bath ticket.

The Gotoh Museum Main Building, designed by master architect Yoshida Isoya and completed in 1960, stands as a remarkable reinterpretation of Heian-period palace architecture in reinforced concrete. Located in Kaminoge, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, the building incorporates elements of shinden-zukuri court design — large round columns, shitomi-do shutters, wide verandas, and deep horizontal eaves — into a thoroughly modern structure. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2017, it houses a collection of about 5,000 works including five National Treasures such as the celebrated Tale of Genji Picture Scrolls, set within an expansive garden along the Kokubunji Cliff Line.

Hiroo Elementary School in Shibuya is a 1932 reinforced-concrete schoolhouse from Tokyo's post-earthquake rebuilding, still in use with a rooftop fire-watch tower.

A 1932 Western house in Tokyo's Sendagi by architect Yabe Matakichi: German-influenced design, stained glass of warships, and links to a beriberi doctor.

The Shimura Residence's registered gate and 57-meter Oya-stone wall in Seijo, Tokyo, built around 1939 and topped with a hedge, recall how the suburb was planned.

The Shimoda Residence in Nishitokyo housed Tanashi's hereditary headmen. A late-Edo, copper-roofed timber farmhouse, it is the city's oldest, registered in 2019.

The Shimoda Residence Bunko-gura in Nishitokyo, Tokyo, is a small Meiji-era earthen storehouse kept by a family of hereditary village headmen and registered in 2019.

Janoyu Onsen Takaraso, a Registered Cultural Property in Hinohara, is Tokyo's only secluded hot-spring inn: a thatched late-Edo farmhouse with a kabuto-shaped roof.

In Tokyo's Shiba district by Zōjō-ji, Jōgyō-in's 1931 ossuary copies a wooden mausoleum's roof, cusped windows and carved porch in concrete. Registered in 2022.

The 1914 main hall of Jōgū-ji, a Pure Land temple in Hiroo, Tokyo, joined Japan's Tangible Cultural Property register in 2017. Its gabled front is the draw.