Important cultural property
重 要 文 化 財 一 覧Explore Japan’s Important Cultural Properties in one searchable list. Filter by prefecture, period, and category, read concise stories, and plan visits with maps and travel tips.
A Nanbokucho-period hanging scroll of a white heron in ink on silk by Ryozen, a fourteenth-century painter of the Tofukuji circle, privately owned in Tokyo.
The Important Cultural Property tachi known as Meibutsu Ōmihara, housed at the Tokyo National Museum, is an exceptionally long blade of about 80.9 centimeters attributed to Masahiro of the Ko-Mihara school in Bingo Province. Once owned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, it was bequeathed to Asano Yukinaga and treasured for centuries by the Asano lords of Hiroshima, bearing a gold-inlaid inscription by the renowned sword connoisseur Hon'ami Kōtoku.
Held in private ownership in Tokyo, this Important Cultural Property tachi was forged in the autumn of 1297 by Nyūsai, a late-Kamakura swordsmith from Chikuzen who relocated to Aki Province and is recorded as the earliest documented smith of that region. Standing at the head of the Kyushu classical lineage that runs through Sairen, Jitsua, and culminates in the celebrated Samonji school, Nyūsai is known today by only two surviving dated works — making this 1297 tachi a uniquely valuable witness to medieval Japanese sword history.
A 1347 offering tachi by Moriyoshi of Bizen, paired with an unhardened twin blade. Once a National Treasure, it vanished after the war and was recently found.
A signed, unaltered Bizen tachi of the Kamakura period by the smith Sukekane. Note its low koshizori curve, cloudy utsuri in the steel, and quiet ko-midare temper.
A Kamakura-period tachi signed by the rare Old Bizen smith Sukekane at the Tokyo National Museum, its 73.3 cm blade keeping an early curve and original signature.
A 77.2 cm Kamakura tachi by Tamekiyo of the Bizen Ichimonji school, an Important Cultural Property since 1941, prized for its vivid clove-pattern temper line.
An Important Cultural Property tachi signed by Nagamitsu, a late-Kamakura Osafune master of Bizen, kept at original length with its choji temper and Bizen utsuri.
A privately held Kamakura tachi by the Bizen master Nagamitsu, an Important Cultural Property prized for its choji temper, misty utsuri, and original signed tang.
A Kamakura tachi by Nagamitsu of Bizen's Osafune school. Its brilliant clove-pattern temper and misty utsuri mark this privately held Important Cultural Property.
A tachi signed "Shinbo saku," once a National Treasure and now an Important Cultural Property of unknown whereabouts. Related blades survive in Yamagata and Tokyo.
A Kamakura tachi signed Hisakuni, an Awataguchi smith of Go-Toba's goban kaji. An Important Cultural Property of unknown whereabouts, on Japan's missing register.
A signed late-Kamakura tachi by Osafune Kagemitsu of Bizen, with a formal cord-wrapped mounting, held at the Tokyo National Museum and designated in 1950.
An Important Cultural Property at the Tokyo National Museum: a tachi forged in 1361 by the Osafune smith Masamitsu, the oldest dated blade known from him.
A tachi forged in 1334 by the Bizen master Kagemitsu, now an Important Cultural Property of unknown whereabouts. We trace its story and where to see his work.
A signed tachi forged in 1300 by Nagamitsu of Osafune, a leading Kamakura swordsmith. This Important Cultural Property is now an object of unknown whereabouts.
A tachi forged in 1346 by Tsugiyoshi of Bitchu's Aoe school, an Important Cultural Property now lost to view. It survives through comparable Aoe blades in Tokyo.
An Important Cultural Property tachi in Tokyo, signed Masatsune, a name used by several early Bizen smiths. This privately held blade dates to the Kamakura period.
A Kamakura tachi by Moritsugu, an early Aoe-school smith of Bitchu. Its steel shows the school's signature sumihada, and a gold inlay ties it to Hakone Shrine.
Held by the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tsushin Zenran (320 volumes) and Zoku Tsushin Zenran (1,784 volumes) form Japan's first systematic compilation of diplomatic records. Covering the turbulent decade from 1859 to 1868, these approximately 2,000 volumes contain primary documents on Perry's arrival, the Namamugi Incident, and other pivotal Bakumatsu events. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 2016, related materials can be viewed free of charge at the Exhibition Room on the 5th floor of Mori JP Tower in Azabudai Hills, Tokyo.