Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan

Atago Bridge spans the Otani River in the heart of Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture. Built in 1926 as part of the reconstruction following the devastating 1925 Kita-Tajima Earthquake, this reinforced concrete pedestrian bridge features an elegant bow-shaped arch adorned with lantern pillars and giboshi finials in traditional Japanese style. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2015, Atago Bridge serves as the gateway to Atago Shrine and forms an iconic part of Kinosaki's famous willow-lined riverscape.

Originally built in 1937 as a disaster recovery project following the devastating Muroto Typhoon, the former Kaimei Ordinary Elementary School is a three-story reinforced concrete building with a distinctive ship-like silhouette. Its semi-cylindrical staircase tower, strong horizontal window canopies, and L-shaped plan make it an outstanding example of early Showa school architecture. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2007, the building preserves a prewar imperial portrait safe and WWII bullet scars on its perimeter wall.

The former Osho Village Hall in Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, is the first government building designed by Togo Murano, one of Japan's most celebrated modern architects and a recipient of the Order of Culture. Completed in 1937, this three-story reinforced concrete structure features distinctive brown tile walls, decorative reliefs of eagles and griffins, and an inventive floor plan. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property, it embodies the prosperity of a village once known as the richest in Japan.

The 1925 storehouse and barn of the Arai estate in Suma, Kobe: a plastered store on a stone base and an earthen-floored barn under a stepped gabled roof.

The 1925 main house of the Arai estate above the Suma shore in Kobe. A refined two-storey wooden home with a central corridor and a formal sea-facing interior.

Discover the Shōtokuden Rear Hall (Kōden) of Ikaruga-dera Temple in Taishi, Hyogo. This striking three-tiered octagonal hall, designed by master architect Itō Heizaemon and completed in 1916, is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property blending traditional Japanese craftsmanship with modern architectural innovation to honor Prince Shōtoku.

The middle hall of Ikaruga-dera's Shotoku-den links a 17th-century front hall to an octagonal rear hall modelled on Horyu-ji's Yumedono. Built in 1916.

A 1933 bracket-arm gate on a street in Ashiya Midorigaoka: gabled pantiles, copper eaves and adze-marked board doors. Registered 2024. A private home.

Ō-bashi (King's Bridge) spans the Ōtani River in the heart of Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture. Built in 1927 as part of the post-earthquake reconstruction following the devastating 1925 Kita-Tajima Earthquake, this reinforced concrete road bridge features towering granite pillars crowned with stone lanterns and bronze-decorated balustrades inspired by shrine and temple architecture. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2015, the bridge stands before the iconic Ichi-no-yu bathhouse and defines the scenic identity of one of Japan's most beloved hot spring towns.

A modest wing where the retired head of the Otoshi household lived. Set along the north-east wall, it pairs a six-mat room with a four-mat anteroom. Registered 1999.

This grain store sits where the estate's south-east and south-west faces meet, sharing one roof with the adjoining carpenter's room. Its street face is board-clad.

A relatively large rice store in the south garden, its entrance flanked by namako lattice-plaster walls. A slightly offset ridge hints it may predate the 1835 main house.

Built in 1835 for the great headman of the lower Kakogawa, this 455-square-metre, hip-and-gable-roofed house heads a nine-building compound registered in 1999.

A small tea room off the veranda of the main house, pairing a three-mat tea space with a two-mat preparation area. A copper eave shades its south side. Registered 1999.

This range on the estate's south-east street edge sets a central gate between a storehouse-like block and service rooms; its plaster and boarded walls shape the street.

A small plaster store on the north-west wall by the detached wing. Gable-entered and just 17 square metres, it is the smallest of the nine, holding household utensils.

The only Meiji building among the nine, this two-storey annex north-west of the main house holds a small room, bath and privy, and links to the house by a corridor.

A closed plaster storehouse at the corner where the estate's north-east and north-west edges meet. Three by two bays, it held household utensils with the west store.

The back gate of the Ogawa Family Residence, a small udegimon at the southwest of the grounds. Barely 1.3 meters across, it carries about 13.8 meters of attached wall.

The front gate of the Ogawa Family Residence, a late-Meiji villa in Miki. At the center of the north frontage, it opens onto a garden path up to the main house.