Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan

The Okutsu Kirotani-gawa Intake Weir is a 12-metre gravity weir of 1932 whose intake gate, revetment and arched inlet all survive complete in Okayama.

The Okutsu No. 3 Aqueduct is an 18-metre reinforced-concrete three-span rigid-frame bridge of 1932 carrying a trapezoidal water flume over the Yu-no-tani-gawa in Okayama.

The Okutsu Power Station Regulating Reservoir, nestled in the mountains of Kagamino Town, Okayama Prefecture, is a nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1933. This massive reinforced concrete structure features an exceptionally rare buttress-style construction and covers nearly 9,500 square meters. Located near the historic Okutsu Onsen hot springs and the scenic Okutsu Gorge, the site offers a unique blend of industrial heritage and natural beauty.

Standing in the verdant hills of Maniwa City in Okayama Prefecture, the Worship Hall of Kiyama Shrine is an elegant single-story wooden building designed in 1919 by architect Egawa Saburohachi. With its hip-and-gable copper roof, ornate karahafu front porch, and a Western-style truss roof structure, the hall masterfully blends tradition with modern innovation. Designated a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2017, it remains the heart of a shrine with over twelve hundred years of history.

The Connecting Corridor of Kiyama Shrine in Maniwa City, Okayama, is a small but exquisite covered walkway designed in 1919 by the prefectural architect Egawa Saburohachi. Linking the worship hall and the shrine office in a gentle arc, it showcases carved rainbow beams, paired rafters, a softly curved floor, and a weathered copper roof. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2017, it stands within a shrine whose history reaches back more than 1,200 years.

The Former Akasaka Jinjō Kōtō Elementary School Building in Akaiwa City, Okayama, is a wooden two-story schoolhouse built in 1910 in the distinctive 'Egawa Style' associated with prefectural engineer Egawa Saburohachi. With its arched entrance, kikusui roof relief, and tasuki bracing motifs, it was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2018. Today the building has been reborn as the Children's Library Hotaru, offering a reading space wrapped in the gentle warmth of Meiji-era timber craftsmanship.

Standing at the foot of Shinbashi Bridge on the eastern bank of the Asahi River in Katsuyama, the Former Okanoya Ryokan Guest Room Building is a late Meiji wooden two-story inn registered as a Tangible Cultural Property. Its glass-paned façade jutting out over the stone embankment perfectly captures the romance of a Japanese riverside ryokan.

Standing quietly by the Asahi River and Kamibashi Bridge in Katsuyama, Maniwa City, this elegant Meiji-era single-bay gate and its flanking plank wall feature delicate diamond-lattice transoms, a copper-sheet roof, a seven-treasures openwork wall, and a side door. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2014, the structure forms a graceful link in Katsuyama's preserved old highway townscape.

Rising 21 meters above the embankment of the Asahi River in Kyobashi-cho, Okayama, this steel-framed warning tower was built in 1924 and designated a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2006. Its four legs of angle steel, braced by distinctive ring-type turnbuckles and crowned by a small watchtower with an iron pyramidal roof, form one of Japan's rare surviving Taisho-era urban warning towers. Together with the nearby Kyobashi water pipe bridge and Kyobashi road bridge, it anchors a remarkable cluster of early-modern engineering heritage close to Okayama Castle, Korakuen Garden, and the much-loved monthly Kyobashi Morning Market.

Discover the Former Kurashiki City Hall, now the Kurashiki City Art Museum—a 1960 Brutalist masterpiece designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Kenzo Tange. Registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2020, the building fuses Japanese tradition with modernist innovation in the heart of the Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter.

Built in 1926 as the heart of Japan's first privately funded public observatory, this observation room features an ingenious sliding roof mechanism. It is the very place where legendary amateur astronomer Minoru Honda discovered 12 comets and 11 novae. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property and designated as a Japanese Astronomical Heritage, it holds exceptional significance in the history of science.

Standing quietly on a riverbank in Tamano City, Okayama Prefecture, this wooden single-story building was completed in March 1908 as a branch office of the Ministry of Finance's Monopoly Bureau. Built to oversee salt collection from one of the Seto Inland Sea's most prolific salt-producing regions during the era of Japan's salt monopoly system, it is the only known site where both the wooden office and its accompanying brick document storehouse survive together. Designated a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2011.

A rare surviving brick document storehouse from 1908, built for Japan's national salt monopoly in Okayama's Yamada salt-fields. Discover the architecture, history, and visitor information for this Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Tamano City.

The Former Chugoku Bank Ushimado Branch is a charming red brick building in the historic port town of Ushimado, Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture. Built in 1915 as the Ushimado Bank headquarters, this registered Tangible Cultural Property features German-imported brick walls, granite foundations, and a fascinating blend of Western and Japanese architectural styles. Now open free of charge as the Machikado Musée Ushimado Cultural Hall, it is a must-see highlight along the atmospheric Shiomachi Karakoto Street.

Discover the Former Yamate Village Office (Kyū Yamate-son Yakuba), a nationally registered tangible cultural property in Soja City, Okayama. Originally built as a physician's residence in the late Edo period, this beautifully preserved thatched-roof building served as a village office for 66 years and now stands amid the scenic Kibi Road heritage corridor.

Located in Chayamachi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, the Isozaki Minki Memorial Museum is the former home and workshop of the Meiji-era inventor who created kinkan-en, exquisite woven rush grass mats exported worldwide. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property, the building features innovative ramps and pulleys, and offers free hands-on igusa weaving experiences.

Built in 1915 as the Kurashiki Kindergarten, this Western-style wooden building features a distinctive octagonal playroom—believed to be the only surviving example of its kind in Japan. Now a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, it serves as a museum showcasing historical educational materials and folk artifacts near the famed Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter.

Discover the Kurashiki Spinning Memorial Museum (Kurabo Memorial Hall), a Registered Tangible Cultural Property housed in an 1888 cotton warehouse within the ivy-clad Kurashiki Ivy Square complex in Okayama Prefecture.

The Kousenji Temple Gate in Shimotsu, Kurashiki City, Okayama, is a yakuimon-style gate built in 1829 by Shiwaku master carpenter Tachibana Kangorō at just 23 years old. Its full-length wave carvings on the penetrating tie beam reflect the maritime heritage of its builders, earning registration as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2018.

The main hall of Kosenji Temple in Shimotsui, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, was built in 1827 by the renowned Shiwaku carpenters from the Seto Inland Sea islands. Featuring exquisite dragon carvings, celestial figures, and a raised coffered ceiling, it was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2018.

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.