Important cultural property

A late Muromachi pagoda at Raigoin in Ryugasaki, Ibaraki. The finial inscription names Toki Haruhide and the year 1556. Square below, round above, listed in 2006.

The Sanbutsudo (Three Buddha Hall) at Ryuzenji Temple in Toride City, Ibaraki Prefecture, is the city's only nationally designated Important Cultural Property. Built in the early 16th century, this thatched-roof hall features a unique three-sided mokoshi structure found nowhere else in Japan, blending Zen and Japanese architectural styles. Steeped in the legends of the warrior Taira no Masakado, it is a precious example of medieval Kantō Buddhist architecture.

The gate of Ryōgonji Temple in Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, is a thatched-roof Zen-style four-legged gate from the mid-Muromachi period, designated as a nationally Important Cultural Property. Its austere beauty and unique solitary setting amid rice paddies, some 400 meters from the main hall, captivate all who visit.

Hidden in a wooded hollow at Fukusenji Temple in Hokota City, Ibaraki Prefecture, this life-size standing Shakyamuni Buddha was carved in the late Kamakura period and designated a National Important Cultural Property in 1916. Its rope-coiled hair, exposed cypress finish, and concentric drapery follow the famous Seiryōji-style tradition tracing back through Song China to ancient Indian Gandhāran art. The statue is publicly opened once a year, on April 8.

Discover the National Important Cultural Property triad enshrined at Itabashi Fudōson (Seian-zan Ganjō-ji Fudō-in) in Tsukubamirai City, Ibaraki. Carved from Japanese cypress in the late Heian period, these elegant standing statues of Fudō Myōō and his two attendant boys reveal the refined sensibility of 12th-century Buddhist sculpture and continue to draw devotees from across the Kantō region.

Preserved at Muryōjuji Temple in Hokota City, Ibaraki, the Shūi Kotokuden is a colored picture scroll on paper composed by Kakunyo, third head priest of Hongan-ji. A surviving fragment from the 1608 fire, this Kamakura-period yamato-e was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1917.

Discover the Illustrated Biography of Prince Shōtoku, a Kamakura-period handscroll designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan and preserved at Jōgūji temple in Naka City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Painted in the soft yamato-e tradition, the 7.39-metre scroll narrates the life of Prince Shōtoku in fourteen scenes and arrived at this rural temple as a gift from Honganji's Kennyo following the Ishiyama War.

Discover the Silk-Painted Biography of Prince Shōtoku, a set of four hanging scrolls designated as a National Important Cultural Property and held by Myōan-ji temple in Bandō City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Created during the Kamakura period to support the Pure Land mission in eastern Japan, this masterpiece depicts about seventy scenes from Prince Shōtoku's legendary life. Learn about its founding by Jōnen, a disciple of Shinran, the painting's iconographic highlights, where to see the faithful replica, visitor access, and surrounding pilgrimage sites.

Former Inukai Family Residence in Okayama City is the tiled farmhouse where Inukai Tsuyoshi was born. Its main house and storehouse are designated; entry is free.

Inoue Family Residence is the oldest townhouse in Kurashiki's Bikan district, its 1721 frame confirmed by ink inscriptions. Three buildings, open since 2023.

Six buildings of the Former Okuni Family Residence in Wake, Okayama, became an Important Cultural Property in 2004. Its 1760 Main House carries a rare linked roof.

Discover the Otakisan Three-Storied Pagoda, an Important Cultural Property dating from 1441, nestled within the ancient Fukushoji Temple complex in Bizen, Okayama. Explore its Muromachi-period architecture, lush hydrangea gardens, and serene mountain trails.

The Ohashi Family Residence in Kurashiki, Okayama, built between 1796 and 1799, became an Important Cultural Property in 1978. Its four buildings and how to visit.

Completed in 1900 in Tsuyama, this timber schoolhouse with a clock tower still holds classes. A rare surviving Meiji middle school, designated in 1995.

Built in the 1620s, Okayama Castle Tsukimi Yagura is the only original building on the main bailey: stone-drop hatches face out, tatami and a veranda face in.

Okayama Castle Nishite Yagura is the castle's other surviving turret: a small-windowed corner tower built for war around 1600, now inside a closed school's grounds.

Former Katayama Family Residence at Fukiya in Okayama: a bengara pigment merchant's compound of five buildings designated in 2006, with hours and access.

Rebuilt in 1612, the Okamaden at Kibitsu Shrine hosts the narukama rite, a fortune read from the sound of a heated cauldron. It was designated in 1980.

Rebuilt in 1543, the North Zuijinmon at Kibitsu Shrine mirrors its tiled southern twin but wears a cypress-bark roof. It became an Important Cultural Property in 1913.

Built in 1357, the South Zuijinmon is the oldest building at Kibitsu Shrine, a tile-roofed eight-legged gate listed as an Important Cultural Property in 1911.