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.
Two Heian-period figures at Kimiidera, second temple of the Saigoku route. Called Brahma and Indra but in bodhisattva form. On view in the Daikomyoden since 2023.
A Kamakura sea-crossing Monju group at Henmyoin on Mount Koya: the lion-mounted bodhisattva with four attendants. Held by the Reihokan, shown in rotating displays.
A Kamakura standing Jikokuten at Henjokoin on Mount Koya, guardian of the east, an armoured warrior on a demon. Held by the Reihokan, shown in rotating displays.
In 1987 a ruined eighth-century Kannon emerged from inside Dōjō-ji's secret statue. Faceless yet ancient, this wood-core figure may date to the temple's founding.
Dōjō-ji's North-Facing Kannon, shown once every 33 years, is a sheath carved in the Nanbokuchō era to enclose and protect an eighth-century image within.
Five seated Buddhas have sat inside Kōyasan's oldest building since 1223. Discover the Kamakura sculpture, the nun-shogun who raised the tower, and when it opens.
An unsigned 65.6 cm Kamakura katana attributed to the Ichimonji master Sukezane, named an Important Cultural Property for its bold clove-pattern temper line.
A Kamakura katana attributed to Rai-school smith Niji-Kunitoshi, unsigned after shortening, now listed by Japan among designated treasures that have gone missing.
Forged by Kunihiro in 1604 for a Kamigamo Shrine priest in Kyoto, this Important Cultural Property belonged to Ōyamazumi Shrine until it was stolen in 1942.
A straight, double-edged ken signed Kuninaga, the Kyoto smith famed for curved tachi like the Tsurumaru. Few signed works survive; this is his only known ken.
Brushed in 1424 by the Joseon-born painter Shūbun after he came to Japan, this ink-bamboo album is his only firmly attributed work and a key link to Korean painting.
A handscroll recording a poetry contest of 1091, named for Fujiwara no Shinshi, foster mother of Emperor Shirakawa. This Important Cultural Property is now lost.