Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan

In Usa, a Kochi town known as the birthplace of Tosa-bushi, these two 1947 buildings are where the Izumi family prepared and sun-dried bonito for katsuobushi.

A Tosa fishing-town house rebuilt around 1947 after the 1946 Nankai earthquake, its plaster gables banded with mizukiri-gawara drip-tiles, the upper floor one hall.

Ittohyo Chinka-bashi in Shimanto-cho, Kochi Prefecture, is the oldest surviving submersible bridge on the Shimanto River, built in 1935. Designated as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property, this railingless bridge embodies the local philosophy of living in harmony with the river. Its distinctive pier-less center span creates a graceful curve that blends beautifully with the clear stream and gorge landscape.

Discover Umi no Gallery in Tosashimizu, Kochi — a Registered Tangible Cultural Property designed by pioneering architect Masako Hayashi. This shell museum features 50,000 specimens in a stunning folded-plate concrete structure inspired by the sea.

The Onishi Family Residence Storehouse in Nahari Town, Kochi Prefecture, is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1938. This traditional earthen storehouse features distinctive Tosa-region architectural elements including mizukiri-gawara drip tiles and fine plasterwork. It forms part of Nahari's remarkable historic townscape, once a thriving timber port, where visitors can enjoy a walking tour of multiple registered cultural properties.

Discover Kawaguchi Bridge, a 1935 reinforced concrete bridge in Niyodogawa Town, Kochi Prefecture. This Registered Tangible Cultural Property features rare Flemish bond brick piers and geometric Art Deco parent pillars spanning the crystal-clear Doi River, a tributary of the famous Niyodo Blue river.

Discover Kita no Kawaguchi Bridge, a registered tangible cultural property in Shimanto Town, Kochi. This semicircular stone arch bridge built in 1919 stands near the confluence of the Kita no Kawa and Shimanto Rivers.

The Former Ichikawa Clinic in Yasuda Town, Kochi Prefecture, is a nationally registered tangible cultural property built around 1913 in Western-style clapboard architecture. Originally the clinic of the Ichikawa family—physicians to the Tosa domain since the 1600s—it now forms part of the Yasuda Machinami Koryukan Nagomi, a community center showcasing Bakumatsu-era history and the unique blend of Western and traditional Japanese architecture.

Discover the Former Taisho Forest Road Kakinoki-Sako Bridge, a registered tangible cultural property in Shimanto Town, Kochi. This 1944 reinforced concrete arch bridge tells the story of Japan's forest railway era along the pristine Shimanto River basin.

Discover the Former Taisho Forest Road Koyagauchi Tunnel, a registered tangible cultural property in Shimanto Town, Kochi Prefecture. Built around 1944, this 138-meter concrete tunnel once carried timber-laden trolleys and now serves as a living testament to Japan's forestry heritage along the Yusuhara River.

Discover the Former Taisho Forest Road Sagawa Bridge (Megane Bridge) in Shimanto Town, Kochi. This 1944 reinforced concrete triple-arch bridge is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property that tells the story of Japan's forestry industry along the Shimanto River.

The Former Taisho Forest Road Yusu-tanigawa Bridge is a reinforced concrete single-arch bridge built in 1944 along the Yusuhara River in Shimanto Town, Kochi Prefecture. Registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property, this small but historically significant bridge preserves the memory of the forest railway that once powered the Shimanto River basin's thriving forestry industry. Standing alongside the adjacent stone-and-brick Yusu-tanigawa Bridge, the pair offers a rare glimpse into the evolution of modern civil engineering in rural Japan.

Located in Akebono-cho, Kochi City, the Former Imperial Japanese Army 44th Infantry Regiment Auditorium is a single-storey wooden hall built around 1898-1900 and registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2023. Together with a surviving ammunition depot, it preserves the physical memory of the regiment that sent generations of Kochi men to war for nearly half a century, with king-post trusses and lap-siding walls largely intact.

Located in the Asakura district of Kochi City, the Former Imperial Japanese Army Infantry 44th Regiment Ammunition Depot is a single-story brick building from the Meiji era, registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in February 2023. With its 50-centimeter-thick brick walls, iron-clad segmental-arch double doors, raised wooden floor for humidity control, and surviving earthen embankment, it stands as one of Japan's rarest surviving examples of late-19th-century military storage architecture. Together with the regiment's Lecture Hall, nearby Asakura Shrine, Asakura Castle ruins, and Kochi University campus, it forms a compelling half-day heritage walk for travelers interested in modern Japanese history.

Within the Kubo grounds in Yasuda, this Taisho river-stone wall staggers its vertical joints, keeps the horizontal courses level, and sets larger stones at its ends.

In the old Tosa town of Yasuda, this small Taisho-era storehouse of the Kubo merchant house wears lime-plaster walls and regional drip tiles above an iron-clad base.

The oldest of the Kubo property's registered parts, this late-Edo ishiguro wall in Yasuda uses Tosa river stones and a tiled cap, shaping the character of its lane.

Facing a back lane in Yasuda, this Taisho detached room of the Kubo house holds a six-mat guest chamber with an alcove, its iron-clad walls opening upstairs only.

On the south side of the Kubo shop-house in Yasuda, this modest 1.9-metre Taisho service gate, with a single mairado door, links the household to its garden and field.

The Main Hall of Kuwaze Shrine, a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in the early Meiji era, stands on a steep mountainside beside Tsubute Falls in Ino Town, Kochi Prefecture. Despite its compact 6.2 m² footprint, the hall features vivid polychrome carvings of dragons, baku, and phoenixes, showcasing remarkable craftsmanship cherished by the local community for generations.

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.