Important cultural property

Newly designated in 2024, 839 documents trace one Nichiren temple across 620 years, from a monk's vow to guard his master's writings to letters from the Edo shogun's court.

Hokekyo-ji in Ichikawa, Chiba, holds over a hundred letters and treatises in the hand of the monk Nichiren, a rare survival named an Important Cultural Property.

The Main Hall of Katano Shrine in Hirakata, Osaka is an Important Cultural Property rebuilt in 1602 by Toyotomi Hideyori. Designated as the spiritual guardian of Osaka Castle's demon gate, this Momoyama-period masterpiece features vermilion lacquer, vivid polychrome decorations, and exquisite kaerumata carvings on all four sides.

The Main Hall of Katano Tenjinja in Hirakata City, Osaka, is a cypress bark-roofed shrine building from 1402 — the oldest surviving structure in the city and a designated Important Cultural Property of Japan. Founded in 787 when Emperor Kanmu established a sacred altar honoring his father Emperor Kōnin, the shrine preserves exquisite Kamakura-period carvings and stands near the traditional site of Emperor Keitai's 6th-century Kuzuha Palace.

At Katano Tenjinsha in Hirakata, Osaka, the Hachiman auxiliary shrine's main hall is a small Muromachi one-bay nagare-zukuri, an Important Cultural Property of 1917.

The Onshi Kodo at Kanshinji Temple in Kawachinagano, Osaka, was constructed in 1930 using materials from the grand banquet hall built for Emperor Showa's enthronement ceremony in 1928. Featuring vivid hosoge ceiling decorations and chandeliers, it is the sole surviving structure preserving the original banquet hall's appearance, designated an Important Cultural Property in 2017.

The Kariteimo-do at Kanshinji Temple in Kawachinagano, Osaka, is a compact shrine hall rebuilt in 1549 and designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Dedicated to Kariteimo (Hariti), the Buddhist guardian of children, this late Muromachi-period structure features elegant ikkensha kasuga-zukuri architecture with a cypress bark roof and cusped gable.

Completed in 1647, the shoin at Kanshinji is a rare early Edo temple reception hall, kept with the garden, gate and kitchen of its walled compound south of Osaka.

A ‘pagoda’ one story tall: Kanshin-ji’s Tatekake-tō, begun on Kusunoki Masashige’s vow and halted by his death at war in 1336, stands thatched and unfinished.

Gansenji in Kaizuka, Osaka, governed a self-ruling temple town and briefly headed Honganji. Its main hall, gate, and drum tower are Important Cultural Properties.

The Romon of Kyuan-ji in Ikeda, Osaka, is an early-15th-century temple gate and the oldest building on the grounds, mixing native wayo with Zen-style carving.

The Three-Tiered Hōkyōintō at Kinzenji Temple in Toyonaka City, Osaka, is an Important Cultural Property of Japan dating to 1349 during the Nanbokuchō period. Featuring an exceptionally rare triple-canopy structure carved in granite with Buddhist figures and Sanskrit seed syllables, this stone pagoda stands in a tranquil Ōbaku Zen temple originally founded by the monk Gyōki and later revived by the celebrated Tetsugen Dōkō.

The main hall of Kusabe Shrine in Sakai City, Osaka, is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property dating from the Nanbokucho period (circa 1369). Notable for its unusual dual roof style — gable front and hip-and-gable rear — and richly carved kaerumata struts depicting bulls, Chinese lions, go players, and mandarin ducks, the hall preserves the artistry of medieval Izumi craftsmen. As an ancient shrine listed in the Engishiki with connections to Emperor Jimmu's legendary eastern campaign and the beloved Urashima Tarō folktale, Kusabe Shrine offers visitors over a thousand years of layered Japanese heritage.

Kumata Shrine's First Hall in Osaka was built in 1690 for Kasuga Taisha in Nara and moved here in 1711, a single-bay kasuga-zukuri Important Cultural Property.

Three main halls stand in a row at Kumata Jinja in Osaka. The Third Hall, built in 1513 in single-bay Kasuga style, ranks among the city's oldest wooden buildings.

At Kumata Shrine in Osaka's Hirano district, the central Second Hall is a three-bay nagare-zukuri building of 1513, among the city's oldest, dated by its ridge tags.

Standing in Hineno, Izumisano City, Osaka, the Main Hall (Kondō) of Jigen-in Temple is an early-Kamakura-period building designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1903. With its three-by-three-bay plan, single hipped tile roof and one-bay porch, the small but exquisitely proportioned hall stands beside the National Treasure tahōtō pagoda within the Japan Heritage landscape of medieval Hineno Manor. Founded in 673 according to temple tradition, it preserves the Yakushi Nyorai principal image, a tranquil moss garden and over seven centuries of continuous spiritual life.

Rising behind the main hall of a small temple in central Osaka, the Shomanin Pagoda — popularly known as the Aizendo Tahoto — was rebuilt in 1597 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and stands as one of the finest Momoyama-era two-tiered pagodas in Japan. At roughly 22.4 meters tall, it is the oldest surviving wooden building within the city of Osaka and a designated Important Cultural Property. Highlights include the twelve zodiac animals carved into its frog-leg struts and the three-dimensional Diamond Realm mandala painted across its interior, which is opened to the public only during the Aizen Festival (June 30 to July 2).

The Former Sugiyama Family Residence, a National Important Cultural Property in Tondabayashi Jinaimachi — Osaka's only Important Preservation District for Traditional Buildings — is the oldest surviving townhouse in the district, dating to the mid-17th century. Once home to one of the eight founding families who governed the town and prospered as sake brewers, this grand merchant house blends rural farmhouse architecture with refined reception rooms, and is also celebrated as the birthplace of Meiji-era poet Isonokami Tsuyuko.

Built in 1708, the main hall of Daikai Shrine at Sumiyoshi Taisha is the oldest surviving Sumiyoshi-zukuri sanctuary, predating the National Treasure halls.