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.
The honden of Isasa Shrine, located along the old Nakasendo highway in Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture, is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property built in 1468 during the Muromachi period. This elegant single-bay flowing-gable structure with a hinoki bark roof features exquisite openwork carvings and is just an eight-minute walk from JR Kusatsu Station.
A bronze spire on a hilltop behind Enryaku-ji's West Pagoda hall, traced to Saichō in 820 and recast in bronze around 1895. Inside are copied sutras, not relics.
Built in 1634 as a Tokugawa shrine hall, Enryaku-ji's Great Lecture Hall was moved up Mount Hiei in 1963. An Important Cultural Property of early Edo carpentry.
Built in 1347 as Onjō-ji's main hall beside Lake Biwa, it was carried up Mount Hiei by Hideyoshi in 1595 and is now Enryaku-ji's oldest surviving building.
Oisugi Shrine Main Hall in Kusatsu, Shiga, is a 1452 nagare-zukuri hall with painted carvings, designated in 1906, and host to the UNESCO Sanyare Odori.
Rebuilt in 1581 on Oda Nobunaga's order, the Main Hall of Oiso Shrine in Shiga is a three-bay nagare-zukuri hall roofed in cypress bark, set in the old Oiso Forest.
The 1427 Main Hall of Shinohara Shrine in Yasu, Shiga, stands beside a National Treasure. This Important Cultural Property is nicknamed the Rice-Cake Shrine.
An Important Cultural Property in Otsu, this 1670 shoin of Otsu Betsuin wraps in a U shape around a courtyard. A rare niche, hearth and shelf set its plan apart.
Ōtsu Betsuin Main Hall, Shiga, rebuilt in 1649, anchors a Higashi Hongan-ji branch founded in 1600 by the priest Kyonyo. An early-Edo Important Cultural Property.
Ono Shrine's tower gate in Ritto, Shiga is the oldest surviving romon at any shrine or temple in the prefecture, an early-Kamakura building in late Heian style.
Discover the Main Hall of Ozu Shrine in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture—a nationally designated Important Cultural Property dating from the late Muromachi period. Explore its elegant cypress-bark roof, one of Japan's three great deity statues, and the vibrant Naginata Festival held every May 5.
Oda Shrine's two-story Romon Gate in Omihachiman, Shiga, is a 14th-century Important Cultural Property, its cypress-bark roof and Muromachi form intact.
Standing in the grounds of Zenryū-ji and Inshū-ji temples in Moriyama City, Shiga Prefecture, the Kakesho Hōtō is a 3.83-metre stone pagoda carved in the late Kamakura period (1275–1332) and designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan in 1925. With its base, cylindrical body, square roof and tall finial all beautifully preserved, and with striking peacock reliefs carved on the sides of its base, it is consistently ranked among the finest stone hōtō of the Ōmi region. The site also marks the ground where the Kanamori Gassen of 1466—the first ikkō-ikki in Japanese history—took place, making the pagoda both an artistic masterpiece and a silent witness to a pivotal moment in medieval Japanese religion.
The main hall of Jishu Shrine in Katsuragawa, Otsu, is the only three-bay Kasuga-style shrine in Shiga. Rebuilt in 1502, it guards the Tendai temple of Myoo-in.
Shina Shrine's main hall in Kusatsu, built in 1298, keeps a ridgepole inscription naming its carpenter. A wind-god hall with Kamakura brackets and white plaster.
Once Zeze Castle's North Great Gate on Lake Biwa, this korai-mon was rebuilt at Shinozu Shrine, Otsu, in 1872. Its tiles still carry the Honda hollyhock crest.
An unsigned granite hokyointo at Jakushoji in Hino, Shiga, dated to the late Kamakura period by its upright corner ornaments, carved Buddhas and lotus base.
Discover the Main Hall of Shirahige Shrine in Takashima, Shiga — an Important Cultural Property built in 1603 by Toyotomi Hideyori. Explore Momoyama-era architecture, the iconic floating torii gate on Lake Biwa, and over 2,000 years of sacred history.
Discover the Shingu Shrine Front Gate (Shingu Jinja Omote-mon), a nationally designated Important Cultural Property built in 1485 in Koka City, Shiga Prefecture. This thatched-roof gate with exquisite Muromachi-period carvings stands at the heart of Japan Heritage ninja country.
Discover the Main Hall of Shingu Shrine in Kusatsu, Shiga — an Important Cultural Property built in 1523. Admire its rare karahafu gable, exquisite kaerumata carvings, and a relocated Zeze Castle gate along the historic Tokaido highway.