Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan

Discover Blue Box House, a 1971 Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Tokyo's Setagaya designed by acclaimed architect Mayumi Miyawaki—a cantilevered blue cube floating over the Kokubunji cliff line and an iconic example of his celebrated Box Series.

At a quiet corner of Kyobashi in central Tokyo stands the Mayuyama Ryusendo Store, a 1960 masterpiece by architect Kenzo Tohata. With its andesite frame and lustrous black lacquer walls, this Registered Tangible Cultural Property houses a century-old Oriental antiquities dealer and embodies Tokyo's postwar commercial revival.

The Kengyo no Ma at the Miyagi Michio Memorial Hall in Kagurazaka, Tokyo, is the personal study where the blind koto virtuoso Miyagi Michio — composer of the iconic "Haru no Umi" (Spring Sea) — spent his final creative years. Built in 1948, this elegant single-story wooden building was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2011 for its refined traditional architectural design.

Museum 1999 (Former Chiba Tsunegoro Residence), located behind Aoyama-dori in Shibuya, Tokyo, is a grand Art Deco mansion completed in 1934. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2018, it houses one of the world's largest collections of works by Erté. Discover this rare early Showa-era Western-style residence that survived the Tokyo air raids.

Dr. Mori's House in Honkomagome, Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, is the 1951 debut work of renowned architect Kiyoshi Seike, built for Dr. Mori Oto — eldest son of literary giant Mori Ōgai. This National Registered Tangible Cultural Property achieves remarkable functional beauty through free spatial composition and simple materials, marking a pivotal moment in postwar Japanese residential architecture.

The Anyo Building, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property standing right outside JR Shinjuku Station's Central East Exit, is a 1968 modernist masterpiece featuring stacked, rotating octagonal floors designed by Frank Lloyd Wright scholar Shindo Akashi. Inside, the kaiseki restaurant Kakiden showcases exquisite sukiya-style tea rooms by Order of Culture recipient Yoshiro Taniguchi. Discover this hidden architectural gem where bold geometric design meets refined Japanese tradition in the heart of Tokyo.

The Jizō-dō at Yūtenji Temple in Meguro, Tokyo, is a nationally registered tangible cultural property dating from the late 18th century. Its extraordinary ceiling paintings of Edo-era firefighter matoi standards, combined with refined Buddhist architectural details, make it a unique cultural treasure. Discover the fascinating story of faith, firefighting heritage, and Edo craftsmanship in the heart of trendy Nakameguro.

Discover the Jizodo-mon Gate at Yutenji Temple in Meguro, Tokyo—a Registered Tangible Cultural Property featuring unique ceiling carvings of Edo firefighter matoi standards. Explore its history, architecture, and deep connection to the machi-bikeshi tradition.

Discover Daisendō, a registered Tangible Cultural Property in Tsurugi Town, Tokushima. This Edo-period Buddhist hall serves as the 13th stop on the Haba Shikoku pilgrimage—a local 88-temple route created so that ordinary villagers could experience the spiritual journey of Shikoku.

Nestled along the Otanigawa in Mima City, Tokushima, this curving stone sabo dam was built in the Meiji era under the guidance of Dutch engineer Johannis de Rijke. It is the only surviving Meiji-era erosion-control dam in Shikoku and the largest of its kind associated with de Rijke in Japan. Its graceful three-tiered stonework now anchors De Rijke Park, where Dutch-style windmills and 15,000 spring tulips honor an engineer whose ideas still hold back the sediment of the Sanuki Mountains today.

Tucked into a hillside in Tsurugi-chō, Tokushima Prefecture, Kaize-dō is the 34th station of the Haba Shikoku 88 Sacred Places, a local Edo-period miniature version of Shikoku's great pilgrimage. Originally founded in 1616 and rebuilt in 1816, this three-bay pyramid-roofed hall with open south and east sides was registered as a national tangible cultural property in 2017, and it preserves a vivid trace of rural folk Buddhism in the Shikoku mountains.

The Kakimoto Family Barrack in Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture, is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property and one of the only surviving wooden barracks from the Bandō Prisoner of War Camp, where German prisoners gave the first complete performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Asia in 1918. Discover its history, the moving Japanese-German friendship it represents, and how to visit the nearby Naruto German House and German Village Park.

Located in the Kyōjō district of Higashi-Iya, Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture, the Kawai Hyakkaten is a historic general store that served the daily needs of one of Japan's most remote mountain communities in the Iya Valley. Registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2019, this traditional wooden commercial building preserves the commercial heritage and historical landscape of a vanishing mountain village.

The Sanmon gate of Ganshoji Temple in Mima City, Tokushima Prefecture, is a Meiji-era eight-legged gate registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2009 for its uniquely creative design, featuring a distinctive flower-head arch opening and elaborate plant motifs. Standing as the entrance to one of Shikoku's oldest temples, it invites visitors to explore a hidden cultural treasure alongside the oldest dry landscape garden in Shikoku and the historic temple district of Mima.

Kita Pharmacy in Nishi-Iya, Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture, is a historic commercial building registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2019. Discover the history and charm of this traditional drugstore that served the remote mountain communities of the Iya Valley, one of Japan's three great secluded regions.

The Former Oiso Family Residence in Matsushige, Tokushima, is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property built during the late Edo period as the home of the Oiso family, who prospered through indigo dye manufacturing. Featuring a distinctive gable roof with plaster walls and a robust timber framework, it preserves the legacy of the Awa indigo industry. Now maintained within the grounds of Kashino Club.

The Former Kashino Family Residence in Matsushige, Tokushima Prefecture, is a grand two-story wooden residence built between 1915 and 1925 by the Kashino family, who prospered through the lime trade. Featuring an irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof and a building area of 381 square meters, this lavishly crafted mansion was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 1999 and now serves as the Kashino Club wedding venue.

The Former Kawaguchi Post Office Building and Main House in Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture, is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1905. This charming wooden structure uniquely combines Western and Japanese architectural styles, featuring painted clapboard siding and traditional lattice windows along the Yoshino River.

Saikyoji's 1930 sutra repository in Mima, Tokushima, packs a dormer gable, a cusped-gable porch and Edo-period bracket work onto a plastered 47-square-metre store.

The 1843 gate of Saikyoji in Mima, Tokushima, is a three-bay yakuimon whose outer eaves are boarded and carved with clouds, the detail that put it in the register.