Important cultural property

Built in 1621 by Tokugawa Hidetada beside Chion-in’s great gate, this Important Cultural Property houses an octagonal cabinet holding a Song-edition Buddhist canon.

Rebuilt in 1530, Chion-in's Seishi-dō is the oldest building at this Kyoto temple. It stands where Pure Land founder Hōnen died and survived the 1633 fire.

Chion-in's Great Bell Tower, built in 1678, holds a 70-ton bronze bell cast in 1636, one of Japan's three great bells, rung each New Year's Eve by seventeen monks.

The Main Hall of Tenkyūin, a sub-temple of Myōshin-ji in Kyoto, is a quintessential example of early Edo-period Zen hōjō architecture, designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan since 1922. Its interior houses 152 panels of stunning gold-leaf barrier paintings by Kanō school masters Sanraku and Sansetsu — a rare and magnificent sight within a Zen temple. Discover this normally closed treasure of Japanese cultural heritage.

The Tenjinsha Thirteen-Story Stone Pagoda, standing within Tenjin Shrine in Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture, is a National Important Cultural Property built in 1277 during the Kamakura period. With its precisely dated inscription and graceful proportions, this 4.15-meter stone tower is a masterpiece of medieval Japanese stone architecture. Discover its history and nearby attractions including Shindoji Temple and Kaijusenji Temple.

Tenmangu Honden in Wazuka Town, Kyoto Prefecture, is an Important Cultural Property rebuilt in 1348 during the Nanbokucho period. This main hall clearly preserves the architectural characteristics of the early Muromachi period. Visit this medieval shrine set amid the stunning tea field landscapes of Wazuka, known as the 'Tea Paradise' of Kyoto.

Completed in 1906 and designed by renowned architects Tatsuno Kingo and Nagano Uheiji, the Former Bank of Japan Kyoto Branch is a stunning example of Meiji-era Western-style architecture. Designated a national Important Cultural Property, this iconic red-brick building now serves as the Museum of Kyoto Annex, open free to the public. Visitors can admire the grand double-height banking hall, historic vault room café, and the signature 'Tatsuno style' design that predates Tokyo Station.

Discover the Niomon Gate of Bujo-ji Temple, a 14th-century Important Cultural Property hidden deep in Kyoto's Kitayama mountains. This eight-legged shingled gate marks the entrance to one of Japan's most sacred Shugendo training grounds.

The Former Butokuden in Kyoto's Okazaki district is Japan's oldest surviving martial arts hall, built in 1899 by the Dai Nippon Butokukai. Designed by architect Matsumuro Shigemitsu, this masterpiece of modern Japanese-style architecture was designated a nationally Important Cultural Property in 1996. Still actively used as part of the Kyoto Budo Center, it hosts the annual All Japan Kendo Demonstration Tournament each May.

The Main Hall (Yakushi-do) of Hokaiji Temple in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward is a designated Important Cultural Property built in 1456 during the Muromachi period. Relocated from Nara in 1904, it enshrines a hidden Yakushi Nyorai statue revered as the Milk Buddha for safe childbirth. Together with the National Treasure Amida Hall, it forms the heart of this historic temple connected to Shinran and the Hino clan.

Known as the Yasaka Pagoda, the five-story pagoda of Hokan-ji Temple is an Important Cultural Property rebuilt in 1440 that towers 46 meters over Kyoto's Higashiyama district. As the third tallest wooden pagoda in Japan and the only heritage-designated five-story pagoda open for interior visits, it offers a rare glimpse of medieval Buddhist architecture, housing Five Wisdom Buddha statues and an ancient foundation stone.

Hoshakuji's three-storied pagoda stands on Mt. Tennozan near Kyoto. Dated to 1604 and about 20 meters tall, it is the one-night pagoda tied to Hideyoshi's victory.

A granite thirteen-story pagoda at Hōsen-ji in Kyotanabe, Kyoto, dated 1278 by its inscription and signed by a mason of the Song-Chinese stone-carving lineage.

Hōtō-ji's Sōmon is a mid-Muromachi four-legged gate, an Important Cultural Property from 1906 and among the temple's oldest buildings, just south of Fushimi Inari.

At Hōtō-ji in southern Kyoto stands a tahōtō pagoda dated to 1438, the oldest of its form in the city, with a rare gyōki-buki lower roof drawn from the Lotus Sutra.

Tucked into the wooded foothills of Fukakusa in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward, the Main Hall of Hōtō-ji is a magnificent Nichiren-sect Buddhist hall rebuilt in 1608 and designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan in 1984. Seven bays wide and five deep, crowned by a sweeping hip-and-gable tile roof, it preserves the dignified spirit of early Edo-period architecture with strong Momoyama overtones. Just a fifteen-minute walk south of the world-famous Fushimi Inari Shrine, this hidden temple offers visitors a rare chance to experience one of southern Kyoto's finest temple ensembles — alongside the city's oldest tahōtō pagoda and a Muromachi-period gate — in profound tranquility.

Lining Horikawa Avenue at Nishi Hongan-ji in Kyoto, the six structures — the Sōmon, Goeidō-mon, Chōzusho, Amidadō-mon, Kyōzō, and Korō — were designated Important Cultural Properties in 2014. From the 1677 Sutra Repository with its Arita-tile-lined revolving cabinet to the lavishly carved four-legged gates, this ensemble showcases Edo-period craftsmanship at one of Japan's most important Buddhist head temples.

Dated to 1448, the main hall of Mito Shrine in Jōyō, Kyoto is the city's oldest surviving building, a single-bay nagare-zukuri hall roofed in cypress bark.

Built in 1856, this two-story hall at Kyoto's Mibu-dera holds an upper stage made for the silent masked Mibu Kyogen, with a jump-in where demons vanish from sight.

A French priest's 1896 design, built by Miyazu carpenters: a wooden church with a Romanesque vault over a tatami floor. An Important Cultural Property since 2024.