Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan

Added in 1909, this reception wing opens to a pond garden. Its great room holds the finest carving on the site, including peonies with a lion cut from one Yakusugi board.

Built in 1891 by the Hozawa merchants, this is old Higashijo's largest town house, known for its layered yatsumune roof and black-plaster wall of flower windows.

This early-Showa gate and wall guard the site's east front. A single-bay armgate meets a 13-meter wall, both in fine zelkova, lending the boundary a quiet dignity.

Discover Jihou-tou, a 1922 Art Deco concrete bell tower in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture. This Registered Tangible Cultural Property was built with an American-made bell donated by Japanese emigrants and still sounds a siren five times daily.

Discover Shōraitei, a nationally registered tangible cultural property on Shimokamagari Island in Kure, Hiroshima. Originally built in 1936 by sukiya master Hirata Masaya, this exquisite tea pavilion features handcrafted chestnut engawa and a refined three-tatami-daime tea room.

Registered in 2011, Shorinbo's 1934 Onari-no-ma housed honoured guests: three rooms, a shoin alcove suite, and a bath at the rear. Deliberately plainer than the Kyakuden.

Shorinbo's 1744 bell tower packs base blocks, tapered columns, two-stepped brackets and kaerumata struts into sixteen square metres. No walls, so the frame is on show.

Seven of Shorinbo's eight buildings were registered for their landscape role. The 1934 Kyakuden alone was listed as a model of design: a late Shinshu audience hall.

Built in 1752 to keep sutras from burning, Shorinbo's Kyozo is a plastered box 3.8 metres square, yet brackets rise from its wall head and a coffered ceiling tops it.

Discover Takemura-ya Main House, a Taisho-era registered tangible cultural property ryokan in Onomichi, Hiroshima. This seaside inn, famous as a filming location for Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story, features exquisite shoin-zukuri architecture overlooking the Onomichi Channel.

Discover the gate and wall of Takemura-ya Honkan in Onomichi, Hiroshima — a Registered Tangible Cultural Property and filming location of Ozu Yasujiro's "Tokyo Story." Learn about its Taisho-era architecture, cultural significance, and visitor information.

Discover Tanaka Photo Studio, a registered tangible cultural property in Miyoshi, Hiroshima. Built in 1928 by local master builder Yoshikawa Soichi, this three-story wooden Western-style building features a distinctive Kaiser mustache window motif and mukuri curved roof entrance.

Discover Tamon-tei, a registered tangible cultural property nestled on the hillside of Mt. Senkoji in Onomichi, Hiroshima. This Taisho-era former ryotei showcases rustic sukiya-style architecture and offers a glimpse into the historic townscape of Japan's beloved slope town.

Discover Tobigasako Sunadome, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima. This massive Edo-period granite dam showcases Japan's pioneering sand control engineering amid seasonal fireflies and spider lilies.

The Nakanotao Tunnel in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, is a 327-meter-long agricultural irrigation tunnel that local farmer Kaichi Okita began digging alone with a hammer and chisel after a devastating drought in 1926. Featuring a pioneering reinforced concrete arch portal, it was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2000 and continues to channel water to Fukamichi Pond to this day — a monument to perseverance and early modern engineering.

The Nanzan Museum in Saizaki-cho Noji, Mihara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, is a nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property—an early Showa-era Western-style building originally constructed as a medical clinic. Now a museum dedicated to Shimizu Nanzan (1875–1948), one of Japan's greatest metal engraving masters and Imperial Household Artist, it offers visitors an intimate look at the art of traditional Japanese metalwork and the artistic bond between Nanzan and his great-nephew, the renowned painter Hirayama Ikuo.

The Nanzenbo Sanmon Gate in Tomonoura, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, is a unique bell tower gate registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2014. Built atop a traditional four-legged gate, its Chinese-inspired upper story features bengara-painted woodwork, flame-shaped windows, and dramatically curved eaves. Throughout the Edo period, the temple served as lodging for Joseon Tongsinsa (Korean diplomatic envoys), and the bell tower was added around 1810 in preparation for the 12th envoy mission. The temple also holds ancestral graves of renowned koto composer Miyagi Michio.

Discover Nanzenbo Main Hall, a nationally registered tangible cultural property in the historic port town of Tomonoura, Fukuyama. Rebuilt in 1860 with lavish late-Edo carvings, this Jodo Shinshu temple once hosted Korean diplomatic missions and holds the ancestral graves of koto master Miyagi Michio.

Discover Nishiyama Honkan, a registered tangible cultural property in Onomichi. This Taisho-era wooden ryokan features sukiya-style rooms, rare timber craftsmanship, and a fascinating blend of Japanese and Western architecture reflecting a thriving port town.

Discover Kuyamada Reservoir Dam in Onomichi, Hiroshima — a stunning 1924 stone-clad dam blending gravity and arch engineering. Still an active water source, this Registered Tangible Cultural Property tells a remarkable story of philanthropy and Taisho-era civil engineering.