Important cultural property

Saikai Bridge, spanning the Inoura Strait in Nagasaki Prefecture, is Japan's first strait-crossing bridge, completed in 1955. At the time, it was the third-longest fixed arch bridge in the world and was celebrated as the greatest in Asia. Built with outstanding design and construction techniques during post-war material shortages, it was designated as a national Important Cultural Property in 2020 — the first post-war bridge to receive this honor. The bridge is also a popular tourist destination for viewing dramatic whirlpools and cherry blossoms.

Saiwai Bridge (also known as the Dutch Bridge) spans the Kagami River in Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture. Built in 1702 using stone arch techniques derived from the Dutch Trading Post, this Important Cultural Property stands as a testament to the East-West cultural exchange during Hirado's era as Japan's international trading port.

Discover the Former Shitsu Relief Institution (Kyū Shitsu Kyūjōin), an Important Cultural Property and UNESCO World Heritage component in Nagasaki. Built by French priest Father de Rotz in 1883 to empower local women, this historic vocational facility features unique De Rotz Wall construction and tells the story of faith and social welfare in Japan's Sotome district.

Discover Shitsu Church (出津教会堂), a National Important Cultural Property and UNESCO World Heritage component in Nagasaki. Built in 1882 by French missionary Father Marc Marie de Rotz, this brick church with white plastered walls stands on a hilltop overlooking the East China Sea, symbolizing the end of 250 years of Hidden Christian faith.

A gabled, tile-roofed late-Edo farmhouse in Tsutsu on southern Tsushima, designated an Important Cultural Property in 1969 for its regional plan and frame.

An Important Cultural Property of 1731 at Nagasaki's Sōfukuji, where Kannon, the deified general Guan Yu, and the guardian Idaten share one Ōbaku-style hall.

Sōfukuji's vermilion outer gate in Nagasaki, rebuilt in 1849 by Japanese carpenters. The Dragon Palace Gate is the temple's most Chinese-looking building.

Built in 1728 at Nagasaki's Sofukuji temple, this two-story tower holds both a bell and a drum. Its frame is Chinese carpentry; its roof follows Japanese design.

Built in 1666, the Maso Gate of Sōfukuji temple in Nagasaki leads to the hall of Maso, the Chinese sea goddess once enshrined there by visiting trading ships.

Built in 1918 by master builder Tetsukawa Yosuke, this hilltop brick church above Hirado Strait pairs a dark exterior with a pale, camellia-carved interior.

The Former Honda Family Residence in Nakazato-machi, Nagasaki City, is a mid-Edo period thatched farmhouse designated as a nationally Important Cultural Property — the oldest surviving residential structure in Nagasaki Prefecture. Featuring a traditional three-room floor plan, scissor-truss roof structure, and the distinctive locally-named momozuki thatching style, it offers a rare glimpse into rural Japanese life over 250 years ago. Free admission, open year-round.

The Former Latin Seminary, located within the grounds of Oura Church in Nagasaki, was built in 1875 to train Japanese Catholic priests following the end of Japan's centuries-long ban on Christianity. Designed by French missionary Father de Rotz in a distinctive timber-framed brick style, this three-story Important Cultural Property now serves as the Oura Church Christian Museum.

Discover Kozen-ji Bentendo in Komagane, Nagano—a small but exquisite Muromachi-style hall built in 1576 on a tiny island in a temple pond. Designated a National Important Cultural Property of Japan, it is the oldest surviving building of an ancient Tendai temple set in the celebrated gardens beneath the Central Japanese Alps, and home to the famous legend of the brave dog Hayataro.

Discover Kokubunji Three-Storied Pagoda in Ueda, Nagano — a Muromachi-period Important Cultural Property and the oldest surviving pagoda among Japan's ancient provincial temples (kokubunji), blending elegant Wayō architecture with subtle Zen-style touches.

Perched against a rock cave at 840 meters on Mount Kosuge in Iiyama, Nagano, the Kosuge Shrine Inner Sanctuary Main Hall is a late Muromachi cliff-hanging structure designated a National Important Cultural Property. As one of Japan's rare surviving Shugendō architectural sites and a key center of the 'Three Great Shugendō Sites of Shinshu,' it preserves a deeply atmospheric mountain pilgrimage experience along with two original 1508-dated interior shrine pavilions and legends linked to the warlord Uesugi Kenshin.

Nestled in the farmland of Shiojiri City, Nagano Prefecture, the Komatsu Family Residence is one of eastern Japan's oldest surviving farmhouses, built by the early 18th century. Its earthen-floor dozā and single wooden-plank room embody the archetypal form of early modern farmhouse architecture. Designated a national Important Cultural Property in 1973, this thatched hipped-roof home offers a rare glimpse into the life of an Edo-period village headman.

Sakado Bridge in Nakagawa Village, Nagano, is a 1933 reinforced concrete arch bridge designated a National Important Cultural Property in 2020. With a record 70-meter span and stunning cherry blossom views, it stands as a masterpiece of early Showa civil engineering.

The Sanayama Family Residence in Mochizuki-juku, Saku City, Nagano Prefecture, is an Edo-period inn and shipping agency rebuilt in 1766. Its main house and traditional storehouse are designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan, preserving the elegant degeta-zukuri facade, white plaster walls, and lattice windows that evoke life along the historic Nakasendo highway.

Tucked into a steep hillside village in Yamanouchi Town, northern Nagano Prefecture, the Main Hall of Sano Shrine is a small single-bay nagare-zukuri sanctuary built in 1592 by the master carpenter Miyazaki Mokujo. Its pillars and walls are painted in red iron oxide, vermilion, and ink with plum blossoms and roundels of pine, bamboo, and plum, making it the most vividly decorated shrine interior in Nagano Prefecture. Designated a National Important Cultural Property in 1955, it offers a rare glimpse of Momoyama-period artistry alongside the famous Jigokudani snow monkeys, Shibu Onsen, and Shiga Kogen.

Built in the Kyoho era (1716-1735), the Shimazaki Family Residence in Shiojiri, Nagano is the oldest known fully formed honmune-zukuri farmhouse in Japan.