Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan

West of Imamiya Shrine's Romon, this 1926 corridor is a gabled, tile-roofed hall that borrows pre-medieval detail, with extended pillars and curving eaves.

East of Imamiya Shrine's Romon, this 1926 corridor is a gabled, tile-roofed hall whose carved gable, framed with a strut and projecting brackets, borrows old detail.

Facing the Wakamiya-sha Honden, this one-bay-square worship hall of 1694 takes the open dance-hall form on four pillars, from the Genroku restoration.

A subsidiary hall distinct from the main Honden, the Wakamiya-sha Honden of 1694 sets kasuga-style roofs side by side, joined at the ridge in a rare linked form.

A gate before the Wakamiya-sha Honden and a 26-metre openwork fence around it, both built in 1694, mark the sacred precinct with a gate and diamond lattice.

The worship hall and middle hall of Ura Shrine, the cult site of the Urashima legend in Ine, Kyoto. Built in 1884 in the warihaiden split-hall form, its facade is anchored by a cloud-and-dragon panel carved by a master of the Nakai Gonji lineage of Tanba woodcarvers. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2014.

Discover Ura Shrine's Main Hall in Ine, Kyoto — a Meiji-era thatched Shinmei-style sanctuary registered as an Important Cultural Property, standing at the legendary home of Urashima Tarō, Japan's oldest folktale.

Tucked away in central Kyoto's Shimogyo Ward, Uronza is a beautifully preserved kyo-machiya townhouse built in 1897 by the Nagaoka family of master carpenters from Fukui Prefecture as their own residence. With its first-floor degoshi lattice, second-floor mushiko-mado window, and sukiya-style parlor, it stands as a fine example of the modern Kyoto machiya. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2008 and given two additional city-level designations, Uronza now operates as a small guesthouse, offering the rare experience of staying overnight in a 120-year-old officially protected building.

Standing on Shijo-dori in Kyoto's celebrated Gion district, Enma (Former Murai Bank Gion Branch) is a 1924 reinforced-concrete bank building designed by Yoshitake Choichi, the in-house architect of tobacco magnate Murai Kichibei. A Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan, it preserves the American-trained classical-revival aesthetics of the Taisho era, including a finely detailed parapet balustrade, and is easily seen on any walk between Yasaka Shrine and Hanamikoji.

Rising from the wooded foothills of Ayabe in northern Kyoto, Oomoto Mirokuden is a vast 789-tatami sanctuary completed in 1953 on the site of an earlier hall lost to wartime suppression. A registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan since 2014, its pillar-less interior, layered copper-shingled irimoya roof, and surrounding gardens make it one of the great twentieth-century religious buildings of Japan.

Kaga Shōtarō's Tudor half-timber former garage beneath Mount Tennōzan, registered as a Cultural Property and now operated as a free rest house by Kyoto Prefecture on the wooded grounds of Ōyamazaki Sansō.

Discover the Ogawa-ke Kitashirakawa Bettei Omotemon, a nationally registered tangible cultural property in Kyoto. Designed by renowned architect Fujii Koji with gardens by the legendary 7th-generation Ogawa Jihei (Ueji), this elegant early Showa-era gate embodies the finest of modern Japanese residential architecture.

Discover the Ogawa Bunsai House Noborigama, a rare Meiji-period climbing kiln preserved on Kyoto's Gojozaka, the birthplace of Kiyomizu-yaki pottery. Learn about its history, cultural significance, and the six-generation Bunsai pottery lineage.

Discover Kawashima Clinic, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Kyoto's Nakagyō Ward. Built in 1936 by Amerikaya, this wooden three-story clinic features a conical tower, half-timbered gable, French roof tiles, and ship-cabin interiors inspired by German castles.

Discover the Kawabata Yanosuke Family Residence in Kyoto's historic Shogoin district—a 1925 wooden house and atelier built for a Western-style painter who studied in Paris. Featuring a dramatic double-height studio with north-facing windows and distinctive red Western tiles, this Registered Tangible Cultural Property offers a rare glimpse into the creative life of a Taishō-era artist.

Discover the Kansai Franco-Japanese Institute (Kansai Nichifutsu Gakkan), a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Kyoto designed by a disciple of Auguste Perret. Explore this elegant 1936 reinforced-concrete landmark where French culture meets Japanese tradition.

Nestled in Kyoto's Okazaki cultural district, the Kansai Art Institute is Japan's oldest surviving private Western painting school, founded by painter Asai Chu in 1906 and designed by architect Takeda Goichi. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property, this Meiji-era wooden atelier continues to serve its original purpose, offering artists the same soft north-facing natural light that once nurtured masters like Yasui Sotaro and Umehara Ryuzaburo.

Built in 1703 as the entrance to a Kyoto monzeki residence, this Edo-period yakui-mon gate now welcomes guests at Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto, opposite Nijō Castle.

Built in 1915, this wall lines the old highway before the Kataoka Residence in Fukuchiyama. A Jizo hall set into its north end makes it a rare, designed streetscape wall.

Built in 1915 by the Kataoka merchant family, this formal shoin parlor once received Fukuchiyama's elite. It now houses a duck-hotpot restaurant open to diners.