Important cultural property

Built in 1494 inside the Hōryū-ji precinct, Kitamuro-in's main hall is a small three-bay sub-temple chapel roofed in cypress bark, with an Amida triad inside.

Dated 1463 by an inscription on its central pillar, Kichiden-ji's tahoto in Ikaruga is Nara's oldest surviving two-storied pagoda, with a hidden Dainichi inside.

Kudaraji's three-storied pagoda rises above rice fields in Koryo Town, Nara. Its late Kamakura design, 1675 finial, disputed founding legend, and how to get inside.

Dated to 1607 by its ridge tablet, the Kuriyama Family Residence in Gojo City is Japan's oldest dwelling of documented date. On its roof, plan, framing and street.

The Main Hall of Koizumi Shrine in Yamatokoriyama, Nara Prefecture, is a designated Important Cultural Property dating from the late Muromachi period. Built in the one-bay Kasuga style with a cypress bark roof and vivid polychrome decoration, it features rare architectural elements such as boat-shaped bracket arms and freestanding railings. Originally founded as the tutelary shrine of the medieval Koizumi warrior clan, it offers an intimate glimpse of Japanese shrine architecture alongside nearby attractions like Jikō-in Temple and Koizumi Castle ruins.

Dated to the Kanbun era and designated in 1973, this cypress-bark hall at Konbu-in convent in Nara follows a Zen abbot's-quarters plan and holds Edo-period panels.

Saion-in Agetsuchimon at Hōryū-ji is an early Edo gate of a type surviving in only two examples. Designated in 1942, it stands on a path that is free to walk.

Saion-in Kyakuden at Hōryū-ji is a Momoyama residence roofed in cedar bark, designated in 1942. The hall is closed, but its two gates face the free approach path.

Head temple of the Shingon Risshū sect, rebuilt 1798–1808 with all-timber plank walls — a rare construction earning Important Cultural Property status in 1998.

Built in 1572 and dated by its ridge tablets, the main hall of Takayama Hachimangu in Nara is a nagare-zukuri shrine named an Important Cultural Property in 1978.

Built in 1804 on Mount Tamaki in Nara, this Important Cultural Property holds Kano-school painted rooms above a basement retreat once used by mountain ascetics.

At the south edge of Tamukeyama Hachimangū, Tōdai-ji's guardian shrine since 749, this small late-Kamakura Sumiyoshi hall is an Important Cultural Property.

An eighth-century azekura log storehouse at Tamukeyama Hachimangu in Nara. Once part of Todai-ji's oil store and moved here in 1714, it can be studied up close.

South of Sakurai in Nara, Tanzan Shrine holds the world's only wooden thirteen-story pagoda, rebuilt in 1532, among vermilion halls that honor Fujiwara no Kamatari.

Chogakuji Romon in Tenri, Nara, an Important Cultural Property since 1907, sets a late Heian upper storey above a Momoyama lower one and once held a temple bell.

Chofukuji Hondo in Ikoma, Nara, a late Kamakura hall designated in 1899, hid soot-blackened paintings recovered by infrared survey during its dismantling repair.

Built in 1499 and designated in 1907, this vermilion Kasuga-style hall stands on the Yamato highlands, where the watershed divides two of Nara's river systems.

Completed in 1894 by Katayama Tokuma, this brick hall in Nara Park became an Important Cultural Property in 1969. It closes for renovation in September 2026.

Denkōji is a Ritsu-sect temple in central Nara, restored in 1585 as a memorial to the warlord Tsutsui Junkei. Its Main Hall is designated an Important Cultural Property as a rare example of Momoyama-period Buddhist architecture. The temple is also renowned for its Kamakura-era 'Naked Jizō' statue and one of Nara's Three Famous Camellias.

The Main Hall of Tenjinsha Shrine in Kitano, Yamazoe Village, is a compact single-bay Kasuga-style structure built during the middle Muromachi period (around the Oei era, late 14th to mid-15th century). Designated a National Important Cultural Property in 1923, this quiet village shrine in the Yamato Highlands preserves the disciplined craftsmanship of medieval Japanese shrine architecture. It makes a rewarding cultural detour alongside Mt. Konosan, Kono-ji Temple, and the striking Nabekura-kei rock stream.