Important cultural property

The Uji Bridge Stele Fragment at Hojoin, Uji, records the building of the Uji Bridge in 646 by the monk Doto. An Important Cultural Property since 1965.

Yuan Chan master Yunfeng Miaogao's 1284 colophon on a calligraphy by his dharma ancestor Dahui Zonggao. An Important Cultural Property at Kyoto's Kitamura Museum.

The Kamowakeikazuchi Shrine Documents, designated as an Important Cultural Property, comprise 13,639 historical records spanning from the late Heian period to the Edo era. Preserved at Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto, this extraordinary archive includes decrees from Minamoto no Yoritomo, edicts from Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and approximately 1,400 consecutive monthly financial records—offering an unparalleled window into the history of one of Japan's most revered Shinto shrines.

Japan's oldest surviving electric tram (1911), from its first public electric railway. Now an Important Cultural Property freely viewable at Heian Shrine.

Grave goods from the early Kofun Shibagahara Tomb in Joyo, with the only complete bronze bracelets of their kind and 187 jasper beads. Designated 1990.

Discover the Important Cultural Property "Dōto" — two powerful characters by Chinese Chan monk Gekkan Bunmei, housed at Shōkoku-ji's Jōtenkaku Museum in Kyoto. Learn about bokuseki (Zen calligraphy), its meaning, and how to visit.

Discover the Important Cultural Property 'Imperial Handwriting of Emperor Go-Uda: Siddham Inshin Kuketsu (2 vols.) and Siddham Inshin Mon (5 vols.)' at Daikaku-ji Temple in Sagano, Kyoto. Personally brushed by Emperor Go-Uda after he took Buddhist vows and became the 23rd head abbot of Daikaku-ji, these seven manuscripts preserve the secret transmissions of Shingon esoteric Buddhism — including teachings written in the sacred Siddham (Sanskrit) script. Explore the calligraphic mastery of one of Japan's foremost imperial calligraphers, the rare interplay of Chinese characters and Indic letters, and practical visitor information for Daikaku-ji and the surrounding Sagano-Arashiyama district.

Daigo-ji's Godansho is a Kamakura copy of the recorded talk of the Heian scholar Oe no Masafusa, an early witness to a lost original. Designated in 1922.

A Heian-period silk scroll at Tō-ji preserving the testament traditionally ascribed to Kūkai. It joined Japan's earliest protected cultural treasures in 1897.

An 1855 edict in Emperor Kōmei's own hand at Myōshin-ji's Tōkai-an grants the Zen master Gokei Sōton a posthumous national-teacher title 350 years after his death.

In 1848, the teenaged Emperor Komei brushed this edict by hand, granting the title Buttoku Kotsu Kokushi to Gokei Soton, founder of Tokaian, for his 350th memorial.

The oldest surviving copy of Kūkai's collected letters, brushed by Hanga in 1171 and held at Otani University. Its 72 pieces reveal the priest behind the legend.

This Echizen stoneware jar carries an incised date, the eighth month of 1306, a rare dated benchmark for medieval Japanese pottery, now at the Kyoto National Museum.

At Manshuin in Kyoto, a handscroll in Emperor Go-Kashiwabara's own hand gathers poems by two Warring States emperors, marked for critique by the poet Asukai Eiga.

Kept at Myoshin-ji in Kyoto, this miniature armor, helmet, and saddle were made for Sutemaru, the infant son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who died at age two in 1591.

An Important Cultural Property at Ritsumeikan University: two bold characters reading Dankei, the Zen style name the monk Kokan Shiren conferred on his Dharma heir.

At Tofuku-ji in Kyoto, four scrolls hold Zen abbot Kokan Shiren's brush copy of Han Yu's Tang essay on learning, a Kamakura-period Important Cultural Property.

The Kokin Wakashū copied in 1305 by Reizei Tamesuke, grandson of Teika and founder of the Reizei poetic line. An Important Cultural Property at Kyoto's Yōmei Bunko.

At Kyoto University, this 1241 manuscript holds the oldest surviving commentary on the Kokin Wakashu, Japan's first imperial anthology, by poet Fujiwara no Norinaga.

At Manshuin in Kyoto survive 73 sets of documents from the Kokin denju, the secret transmission of reading the Kokin Wakashu, prized in Japan's literary history.