Important cultural property

At Tendai-ji in northern Iwate, this Heian-period Important Cultural Property — about 170 cm tall and carved from a single trunk of katsura wood — stands beside the temple's celebrated Sho-Kannon as a survival of Japan's northernmost ancient Buddhist sculpture.

Enshrined in Senju-do at Kannon-in, a sub-temple of Chuson-ji in Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture, this 171.2-centimeter wooden statue of Senju Kannon (the Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva of Compassion) is a celebrated late-Heian masterpiece. Carved in the joined-block technique with lacquer and gold-leaf finish, it features eleven faces above the main head and currently thirty-two arms. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 1929, it embodies the gentle Fujiwara-style aesthetic of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hiraizumi.

The Wooden Standing Statue of Tobatsu Bishamonten at Asai-Chifuku Atago Shrine (Fujisato Bishamondo) in Oshu, Iwate is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property. Carved from a single block of Japanese horse chestnut and standing 175 cm tall, it features an extraordinary horizontal round-chisel technique with very few parallels in Japan. It is one of the finest provincial Tobatsu Bishamonten figures of the Heian period preserved in Tohoku.

Housed at Kokuseki-ji Temple in Oshu City, Iwate, this seated statue of Yakushi Nyorai bears an ink inscription dated 862 CE inside its body, making it the oldest dated wooden Buddhist sculpture in Japan and a National Important Cultural Property. Carved from a single block of katsura wood and standing 126 cm tall, the statue features a striking, severe expression and a powerfully sculpted body, serving as a touchstone for the study of early Heian-period sculpture. Discover this rare witness to the meeting of imperial Buddhist culture and the ancient northern frontier.

Held by Chusonji Temple in Hiraizumi, Iwate, these four Important Cultural Property masks include the Wakajo, whose ink inscription on the reverse dates it to 1291—making it the oldest dated Noh mask known to survive in Japan. Together with two Okina masks and one Roujo mask, they are still worn each year by Chusonji's monks during Kojitsu Shikisanban, a medieval ennen performance offered on May 4–5 and November 3 at the Hakusan Shrine Noh stage.

Designated an Important Cultural Property in 1961, Atayuta Shrine Main Hall in Takayama stands inside a protective shelter, its Muromachi shingled roof rarely seen.

The storehouse of the Arakawa Family Residence in Takayama was built in 1747, forty-nine years before the main house. Both were designated in 1971. Free entry.

Araki Shrine Main Hall in Takayama dates to 1390. Its three-bay nagare-zukuri form, cypress shingles and carved frog-leg strut reward close study. Entry is free.

Completed in 1886, the Former Ibigawa Railway Bridge spans 325.1 metres on five wrought-iron trusses designed by C.A.W. Pownall. It is still crossed on foot, free.

Built in 1296, the two-storey gate of Enkyoji in Kitagata is pure wayo carpentry and among the oldest buildings in Gifu Prefecture. It is free to view at any hour.

Rebuilt in 1581 by the Hida warlord Mitsuki Yoritsuna, this Important Cultural Property in Gero, Gifu, is known for the water-summoning carp carved into its eaves.

Rebuilt in 1412 by a Hida warlord, this shrine hall in Gero keeps carved warblers said to have sung as it was built, beside a pair of vast sacred cedars.

At Ankoku-ji temple in Takayama, the Main Hall of Kumano Shrine outlasted the fires of the Sengoku wars. A rare one-bay misedana hall, it is among the city's oldest.

Main hall of Hida Kokubunji, Takayama, shown by its 1954 repair to be mid-Muromachi with a Momoyama porch; golden-hall foundations lay beneath. Open to visitors.

The Kosaka Family Residence in Mino, Gifu, is a working sake brewery dating to 1772 and the town's sole Important Cultural Property, with a convex roof and udatsu.

Shin Buddhist hall of about 1504, moved to Takayama from Shokawa for the Miboro Dam, with its gentle roof restored. Said to be the oldest of its kind.

The Shinchokokuji Temple Amida Hall in Seki, Gifu, is a late Muromachi hall with the only hip-and-gable roof in its row, designated in 1953. How to read its roof.

The Shinchokokuji Temple Guest Hall in Seki, Gifu, is an early Edo copper-roofed guest hall, designated in 1953, with a garden view of the pagoda. 300 yen, booking.

Built in 1463, three years after the main hall, the Shinchokokuji Temple Three-Storied Pagoda in Seki, Gifu, has three cypress bark roofs. Where to view it and why.

The Shinchokokuji Temple Shaka Hall in Seki, Gifu, is a late Muromachi hipped-roof hall designated in 1953. Its roof, its Amida Hall neighbour, a rare 2026 opening.