Important cultural property

An Important Cultural Property in Aichi, this Sunshōan Shikishi sets a Heian winter poem from the Kokin Wakashū in flowing kana on imported mica-printed paper.

An Important Cultural Property in Aichi, this 14th-century tachi is a rare signed work by the Sōden-Bizen smith Yoshikage, whose verified blades barely survive.

A late-Kamakura tachi by Kyoto's Rai Kunimitsu, slender for the master and shortened yet still signed. An Important Cultural Property now held in Nagoya, Aichi.

An Important Cultural Property preserved in Kyoto, this silk-mounted hanging scroll portrays Bai Juyi (Hakurakuten), the Tang dynasty Chinese poet whose verse most profoundly shaped Heian-period Japanese literature. Famous for the Song of Everlasting Sorrow and the Song of the Pipa, Bai Juyi inspired masterpieces such as The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book. The painting embodies refined silk-painting craftsmanship and the deep cultural dialogue between East Asian civilizations, complemented by the Kyoto National Museum and the Gion Festival's Hakurakuten-yama float.

Discover the Hōrōkaku Mandala (Color on Silk), a rare esoteric Buddhist painting linked to Kyoto's Shingon tradition. Explore its symbolism, the Pavilion of Treasures, and how to experience this spiritual heritage.

The Koogimi-shu copies a Heian poet's verse in a Kamakura hand. Named an Important Cultural Property in 1939, it is now missing. Where her calligraphy survives.

Discover Kano Sansetsu's Snowy Shore with Waterfowl, an Important Cultural Property of Japan held on deposit at the Kyoto National Museum. This pair of six-panel folding screens by the second-generation head of the Kyo Kano school depicts a moonlit winter coast where silver-leaf waves and countless waterfowl create one of the most haunting visions of early Edo painting.

Held in a private Kyoto collection, this Important Cultural Property is a fragment from the early thirteenth-century Satake Version of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets handscrolls. The hanging scroll depicts the Heian-period priest-poet Sosei Hōshi in the realistic nise-e style, with painting traditionally attributed to Fujiwara no Nobuzane and calligraphy to Gokyōgoku Yoshitsune. Famous for the 1919 division of the original scrolls, this fragment stands as a landmark of Kamakura court portraiture.

Discover the Cloud Dragon Ink Painting (Unryūzu) by Edo-period master Maruyama Ōkyo, an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Learn about its powerful sumi-ink technique and how to view it at the Kyoto National Museum.

Discover the National Treasure "Prayer Text of Kujō Michiie by Jien," a 1221 ink manuscript revealing the political hopes and masterful calligraphy of one of Japan's greatest medieval monks, written just months before the Jōkyū War.

A personal letter handwritten in ink on paper by Emperor Go-Kōgon, the fourth sovereign of the Northern Court during Japan's Nanboku-chō period (14th century). Designated as an Important Cultural Property, this hanging scroll reveals the refined calligraphic skill of an emperor who ascended the throne without the Sacred Treasures, offering a rare and intimate glimpse into medieval Japanese court culture. Housed at the National Museum of Japanese History in Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture.

Discover the cultural significance of the ink-on-paper imperial letter (shinkan) by Emperor Go-Kōgon, a designated cultural property from the turbulent Nanbokuchō period, preserved in Kyoto Prefecture.

The 'Letter by Konoe Kanesune, Dated the 24th Day' is a rare autograph letter by one of the most powerful nobles of 13th-century Japan. Designated as an Important Cultural Property, this ink-on-paper correspondence offers a direct connection to the refined calligraphic traditions and daily life of the Kamakura-period imperial court. Discover the historical significance and cultural context of this remarkable document preserved among the treasures of the Yōmei Bunko archives in Kyoto.

An authenticated handwritten letter by Emperor Go-Fukakusa (1243–1304), dated 1298, featuring his powerful brushwork and personal cipher. Designated as an Important Cultural Property, this document offers rare insight into Kamakura-period court politics and imperial calligraphy. Deposited at the Kyoto National Museum.

Discover the National Treasure imperial letter (shinkan) written by Emperor Go-Yōzei to Shōren-in Temple in Kyoto. Learn about its historical significance, exquisite calligraphy, and the dramatic events of 1596 Japan.

Discover the Persian Manuscript in Japan, a remarkable 13th-century document brought from Song-dynasty Quanzhou by the monk Keisei. This Important Cultural Property contains Persian poetry and reveals the vibrant maritime Silk Road connections between medieval Japan, China, and Persia.

The Suhama-u Raden Suzuribako is a Heian-period writing box designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Adorned with mother-of-pearl inlay depicting cormorants on a sandbar motif, this exquisite lacquerwork masterpiece showcases the extraordinary craftsmanship and refined aesthetic of Heian-era artisans. Discover the beauty of this rare treasure held in a private collection in Kyoto Prefecture, and explore the world of classical Japanese lacquer arts.

Held privately in Kyoto, this Important Cultural Property is a stone Buddhist relief dated to Kaiyuan 12 (724 CE). One of the famed Baoqing Temple group that once adorned Empress Wu Zetian's Seven-Treasure Platform in Tang Chang'an, it represents the High Tang synthesis of Indian Gupta and Chinese sculptural traditions.

Housed at the Kyoto National Museum, these five 3rd-century bronze mirrors unearthed in 1921 from Akazuka Kofun in Usa City, Oita Prefecture, are designated Important Cultural Properties. Chiefly triangular-rimmed deity-and-beast mirrors, they share molds with mirrors from tumuli across Japan, offering rare evidence of the early Yamato polity's reach and illuminating the great Queen Himiko debate.

Housed at the Kyoto National Museum, the Hanada-ito Odoshi Dōmaru is an Important Cultural Property of Muromachi-era armor laced with pale indigo cords and complete with its helmet and large shoulder guards. Its akoda-shaped helmet, intricate shakudō chrysanthemum fittings, and connection to the Nasu family — famed for the legendary archer Nasu no Yoichi — make it a rare window into medieval Japanese martial and craft heritage.