Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan

Tucked into the mountainside grounds of Jakkō-in—the famed Maple Temple of Owari in Inuyama, Aichi—this miniature Bentendō is a hexagonal wooden hall built around 1820, with a footprint of just three square meters. Enshrining a Benzaiten venerated for forging bonds of love and good fortune, it was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2005 and stands as a rare and beautifully crafted small-scale hall of late-Edo religious architecture.

Discover Jakkō-in Hondō, a registered cultural property in Inuyama, Aichi. Rebuilt in 1879, this graceful main hall sits on Mt. Tsugao surrounded by 1,000 maple trees, blending Buddhist tradition with stunning seasonal beauty.

Discover the Shujo Family Residence Stone-Built Embankment in Tokai City, Aichi — a 76-meter Taishō-era seawall built using Hattori Chōshichi's renowned 'artificial stone' (jinzōseki) technique. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2024, this rare survivor preserves the engineering legacy of Meiji–Taishō Japan along the Ise Bay shoreline near Jurakuen Park and the Great Buddha.

The largest of Shunkoin's seven registered buildings, this 1933 kuri held the kitchen and priest's quarters, with a modern corridor plan and bold beamwork.

Built in 1830, the same year as the main hall, this single-bay yakui-mon faces north onto the old road. Bracketing and a carved gable strut give it character.

The most decorative of Shunkoin's seven buildings, this 1865 bell tower sits on a river-stone base, with bracketing, fan rafters, and a painted coffered ceiling.

The smallest of the seven, this late-Meiji tea room is barely four mats. Tradition credits it to local master Shimomura Mitsuyoshi, and bamboo runs throughout.

Built in 1936 and the only copper-roofed building of the seven, Furokaku hides a refined sukiya interior behind a plain shell, with polished-log posts.

This late-Edo entrance and shoin reflect a move: local accounts say the reception wing came in 1879 from the home of Takeda Shokuro, founder of Arimatsu shibori.

Rebuilt in 1830, Shunkoin's main hall takes the six-room hojo form under a hip-and-gable roof. It faces north, and its image is Tahonyorai, rare in Soto Zen.

A Kobo Daishi hall of 1909 at Shounji, a Zen temple in Inuyama's old castle town, with three ten-mat rooms under coffered ceilings. Registered in 2012.

This late Meiji bell tower at Shounji Temple in Inuyama fits classical carpentry, brackets and frog-leg struts, into 18 square meters. Registered in 2012.

Completed in 1934 at a Zen temple in Inuyama, this east-facing main hall follows the six-room hojo plan with archaic boat-shaped brackets. Registered in 2012.

Built in 1860 at Joshoji Temple in Toyota City, this kitchen-residence keeps an ink inscription naming its date and master carpenter. Registered in 2005.

This small 1934 study at Joshoji Temple in Toyota City hides vetted timber and delicate openwork transoms behind a plain clapboard exterior. Registered in 2005.

Sumi Kaikan in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture, is the only building designed by world-renowned architect Kenzo Tange in the entire prefecture. Completed in 1957, it features signature elements of Tange's early work including double-beam girders and exposed concrete. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2008, it now serves as a community center open for free architectural tours.

Discover the Seto Eisen Church Chapel, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1900 in Seto City, Aichi. This charming wooden chapel blends Western and Japanese architectural techniques and remains an active place of worship today.

Standing on the mid-slope of historic Mount Komaki in Aichi Prefecture, Sōsuikan is a refined single-story wooden zashiki hall built in 1888 as a guest reception facility and later owned by the Owari Tokugawa family. Restored to its original 1888 appearance in 2022 and registered as a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property in August 2025, the hipped-roof, tile-roofed building with its formal shikidai entrance offers visitors a graceful encounter with Meiji-era hospitality architecture.

Hidden within the lush grounds of Tokugawa Garden in Nagoya stands Sosanso, a graceful single-story wooden villa built in 1937 as a guesthouse for the Pan-Pacific Peace Exposition and relocated to the garden the same year. Lavishly constructed with the finest Kiso cypress timber, it miraculously survived World War II, served as a wedding hall, and now welcomes visitors as a tea room. It was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2014.

The Taki Gakuen Auditorium, completed in 1933 and registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2001, stands on the active campus of Taki Junior and Senior High School in Konan City, Aichi Prefecture. Designed by Murase Kuninosuke for the school's founder Taki Shinshiro and built by the Ando-gumi firm of Nagoya, this reinforced-concrete hall combines an austere, near-modernist exterior with the symbolic dignity of a triple-arched entrance and a pediment-shaped gable. Carefully renovated in 2023, it remains in daily ceremonial use and can be visited by advance reservation.

The complete kokuhō catalogue — browse by prefecture, period, and category.

Nationwide jūyō bunkazai — architecture, sculpture, painting, crafts, and documents.

UNESCO-inscribed cultural and natural sites across the archipelago.