Important cultural property
重 要 文 化 財 一 覧Explore Japan’s Important Cultural Properties in one searchable list. Filter by prefecture, period, and category, read concise stories, and plan visits with maps and travel tips.
The main hall of Hōon-ji in Aridagawa, Wakayama, dates to 1457, fixed by a ridge plaque in its roof. A small, square, thatched hall protected nationally since 1917.
Hōzō-ji's bell tower in Wakayama is a Muromachi-period building with a hipped roof rare on such towers. Its bell reportedly warned villagers of the 1854 tsunami.
The main hall of Risho Gokokuji in Hashimoto, Wakayama, is a five-bay hipped-roof hall rebuilt around 1375, an Important Cultural Property with vermilion pillars.
Built in 1898, Japan's only surviving Japanese-style prefectural assembly hall hides a Western truss above its plaster-walled chamber. Restored at Negoro, Iwade.
Wakayama Castle's Okaguchi Gate, a 1621 turret gate, survived the 1945 firebombing that razed the keep. Its wall holds twelve gun ports cut from single stones.
Held by Horaisan Shrine in Katsuragi, Wakayama, this Kamakura-period map of Kaseda Estate records the houses, fields and rivers of a vanished medieval manor.
A Kamakura landscape screen at Kongōbuji on Mt. Kōya, showing sacred Shingon sites linked to Kūkai. Made for the kanjō rite, an Important Cultural Property.
A Kamakura Important Cultural Property at Hōjuin on Mt. Kōya. This mandala maps the realm of the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī, basis of an esoteric rite for long life.
An Important Cultural Property at Sainanin on Mt. Kōya, showing the guardian deity Daigensui Myōō. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a Yuan Chinese work.
A Kamakura ICP at Seijōshin-in on Mt. Kōya. It depicts the origin legend of the Taima Mandala, woven overnight from lotus thread for the devout Chūjō-hime.
An Important Cultural Property at Seikeiin on Mount Koya, painted by the young Hasegawa Tohaku. Long the standard face of Takeda Shingen, the sitter is now disputed.
An Important Cultural Property owned by Manganji in Wakayama. This Kamakura portrait of Emperor Toba survived the temple's 2012 fire while on deposit in Kyoto.
An Important Cultural Property at Kongobuji. This Kamakura image depicts Niu Myojin, the goddess who by legend gave Mount Koya to Kukai, fusing Shinto and Buddhism.
An Important Cultural Property at Kongobuji, from Yuan-dynasty China. Tradition calls it Yakushi, the Medicine Buddha, but its official title names only a buddha.
A Kamakura silk painting from Shōchi-in on Mount Kōya: Mañjuśrī with eight topknots and raised sword, ringed by eight youths, the icon of a rite to avert disaster.
A Kamakura silk painting at Zenjū-in on Mount Kōya: the legend of Kūkai appearing as Dainichi Nyorai while debating the eight Buddhist schools before Emperor Saga.
A Kamakura silk painting at Kōdai-in on Mount Kōya: Bishamonten, armoured guardian of the north with a treasure pagoda, worshipped for protection and good fortune.
A Kamakura silk painting at Shōchi-in on Mount Kōya: Fugen Enmei, the esoteric bodhisattva of long life, central icon of a rite to extend lifespan and worldly gain.
An early Kamakura nirvana painting at Jōkyō-ji in Arida-gawa, Wakayama, breaking convention with a great canopy and dragon king, from the Myōe-linked Saishō-ji.
This Kamakura scroll at Gobo Jakujo-in on Mount Koya shows the Immovable Wisdom King in flame with three attendant boys, by tradition ascribed to the monk Gangyo.