Kamakura

Standing in the precincts of Nagataki Hakusan Shrine in Gujō, Gifu Prefecture, this hexagonal stone lantern bears an inscription dating it to 1302, the late Kamakura period. Carved from andesite and rising over three metres tall, it is decorated with lotus petals, running lions, and a small seated Buddha figure. Designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan, it is one of the finest dated stone lanterns of medieval Japan and a rare surviving witness to the Mino-side centre of Hakusan mountain worship.

Discover the National Treasure tachi signed by Yasutsugu, a masterwork of the Ko-Aoe swordsmithing school from the Kamakura period. Once owned by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, this magnificent blade is housed at Hikaru Museum in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture.

The National Treasure 'Nittō Guhō Junrei Kōki' is the diary of the Heian-period Tendai monk Ennin (Jikaku Daishi), who traveled across Tang Dynasty China for nearly ten years as part of the last Japanese embassy. This oldest surviving manuscript, transcribed by the monk Kanetane in 1291, is an invaluable historical record of ninth-century Chinese society, customs, and religion — ranked alongside Marco Polo's Travels as one of the great travel accounts in world literature.

Discover a life-sized early Kamakura-period bronze statue of Akasagarbha Bodhisattva — a nationally designated Important Cultural Property preserved with its original canopy and halo in the remote mountain village of Itoshiro, Gifu. Once the sacred body of Hakusan Chukyo Shrine, this masterpiece embodies the flourishing of Hakusan mountain faith.