Important cultural property

At the heart of Niigata's moss-clad Teikan-en garden stands a Heian Medicine Buddha. Designated in 1939, this statue gave the hall and the garden their name.

Carved in 1308, the Anyo-in Hokyoin-to is Kamakura's oldest dated stone pagoda, an Important Cultural Property whose base records both its patron and its stonemason.

Built around 1646 in Kyoto by Ichijo Ekan, a son of Emperor Go-Yozei, this thatched imperial tea villa was moved to Kamakura with its garden stones in 1959.

The Former Ito Family House, a headman's farmhouse of around 1700 floored in split bamboo, stands in Kawasaki's open-air folk museum, which its rescue founded.

Discover the Main Hall of Egara Tenjin Shrine in Kamakura, an Important Cultural Property dating back to the 14th century. Originally built as part of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, this remarkable shrine honors Sugawara no Michizane, the deity of learning.

The Kaisantō (Founder's Pagoda) stands in the inner graveyard of Kakuonji Temple in Nikaidō, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture. Raised in 1332 as a memorial for the temple's founder Chikai Shinne (d. 1306), it is a masterpiece of the "Kantō-style" stone hōkyōintō pagoda, with a base inscription precisely dating the work and naming its sculptor, the master stonemason Mitsuhiro. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 1934, the pagoda is a key reference for medieval Japanese stone sculpture, and the ritual objects discovered inside it — including a yellow-glazed Seto-ware jar — are themselves nationally designated. Though the pagoda itself sits in a non-public area, a visit to Kakuonji offers access to fifteen Important Cultural Property statues and one of Kamakura's most atmospheric temple landscapes.

The Daito-to at Kakuonji Temple in Kamakura is a stone hōkyōintō (jewel-casket pagoda) erected in 1332 as a memorial to the temple's second abbot, Daitō Genchi. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 1934, it is one of the largest surviving Kamakura-period stone pagodas. Sacred artifacts discovered inside during a 1965 restoration—including a crystal gorintō and ceramic jars—are separately designated Important Cultural Properties, offering invaluable insights into medieval Japanese funerary customs and craftsmanship.

Completed in 1928, the Kanagawa Prefectural Government Building is one of the Yokohama Three Towers, known by its beloved nickname "King's Tower." Built with steel-reinforced concrete after the Great Kantō Earthquake, this pioneering example of the Imperial Crown Style features a pagoda-inspired tower with a Buddhist spire finial and Art Deco ornamentation fused with traditional hōsōge motifs. Designated a national Important Cultural Property in 2019, the building welcomes visitors to its rooftop observation deck and history exhibition room on weekdays, free of charge.

Standing at the heart of Yokohama's historic Bashamichi district, the Former Yokohama Specie Bank Head Office Main Building is a magnificent Neo-Baroque masterpiece completed in 1904 by architect Tsumaki Yorinaka. Crowned by the iconic octagonal copper dome known as 'Ace's Dome,' clad in giant Corinthian orders and rusticated stonework, this stately building has survived the Great Kanto Earthquake and wartime fires. Designated a National Important Cultural Property in 1969 and a National Historic Site in 1995, it serves today as the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Cultural History.

Discover Gekka-den, an Important Cultural Property quietly tucked into the inner garden of Sankeien in Yokohama. Built in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu within Kyoto's Fushimi Castle as a waiting room for daimyo lords, this elegant single-story hall with hip-and-gable cypress-bark roof was relocated via Mimuroto-ji in Uji to Sankeien in 1918. Inside are painted screens of bamboo and folding fans attributed to the Momoyama master Kaiho Yusho, and chrysanthemum-pierced transoms—rare survivors from the dawn of the Edo period.

An early Muromachi pagoda moved from Kyoto to Sankeien Garden in Yokohama in 1914 and designated in 1931. Kanto's oldest timber tower, hidden by repairs from 2027.

A medieval Buddhist hall from Kyoto, dismantled in 1949 and reassembled at Sankeien Garden in Yokohama by 1987, restored to its original early Muromachi form.

Built in 1917 with citizen donations to celebrate Yokohama Port's 50th anniversary, the Yokohama Port Opening Memorial Hall is a masterpiece of Tatsuno-style Free Classic architecture in red brick and granite. Discover its iconic 36-meter 'Jack's Tower,' historic stained glass windows depicting the port's origins, and the remarkable story of its restoration from the Great Kanto Earthquake to the 1989 dome reconstruction.

Issued in January 1294 by Hōjō Sadatoki, ninth regent of the Kamakura shogunate, this ink-on-paper edict regulated the conduct of monks at Engaku-ji and other Zen monasteries. Designated an Important Cultural Property, it offers a rare window into the close ties between samurai power and Zen Buddhism in medieval Kamakura.

Discover the Bokuzeisho Volume 23 Fragment, an Important Cultural Property held by Shomyo-ji Temple and preserved at Kanagawa Prefectural Kanazawa Bunko. Explore how this rare divination manuscript reveals the scholarly world of medieval Japanese Buddhist learning.

Discover the Important Cultural Property bokuseki by Sekishitsu Zenkyū—a Zen incense-offering verse (nenkōgo) written in 1363 during the Nanbokuchō period. Owned by the Tokiwayama Bunko and housed at the Tokyo National Museum, this majestic calligraphic work embodies the spiritual depth of medieval Japanese Zen Buddhism. Learn about its history, significance, and how to visit.

The Ishiba Family Residence, located opposite the Kameoka Gate of Hirosaki Castle in Aomori Prefecture, is one of the finest surviving Edo-period merchant houses in the Tsugaru region. Designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan, this grand timber-framed building features massive adze-finished beams and a distinctive komise snow arcade, and continues to operate as a sake shop to this day.

Iwakiyama Shrine's worship hall in Aomori began as a Buddhist temple's main hall, built 1603 to 1640. The vermilion five-bay hall still reads as a temple sanctuary.

Iwakiyama Shrine's Romon in Aomori is a vermilion five-bay tower gate built in 1628 as a Buddhist temple's gate, inherited by the shrine after the Meiji reforms.

The Edo Family Residence in Gonohe, Aomori, was home to rural samurai of the Nanbu domain. The large thatched house dates from around 1783; exterior viewing only.