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.
A late Kamakura tachi by Kageyori of Bizen, its tang signed and dated to 1289 and unaltered, owned by Kishu Toshogu and held at the Wakayama Prefectural Museum.
A Kamakura tachi signed Sanenaga of the Osafune line in Bizen, dedicated to Kishu Toshogu by Tokugawa Tsunanori and held at the Wakayama Prefectural Museum.
An Important Cultural Property at Kishū Tōshōgū: a 71-centimeter Nanbokuchō tachi by the Kyoto Nobukuni line, with an irregular temper and a groove on both faces.
An Important Cultural Property at Wakamiya Hachiman Shrine: a 1386 Nanbokuchō tachi by Osafune Hidemitsu of Bizen, later given to the shrine by Tokugawa Yoshimune.
An Important Cultural Property at Kishū Tōshōgū: an 80-centimeter Kamakura tachi attributed to Sanenaga of Bizen, with original tang and Tokugawa-crested mounting.
The tachi signed Ohara Sanemori at Kishu Toshogu continues the Hoki line after Yasutsuna, a carved 13th-century blade and Important Cultural Property.
The tachi signed Masatsune at Kumano Hayatama Taisha is a Ko-Bizen work, an Important Cultural Property separate from the shrine's National Treasures.
The tachi signed Mitsutada at Kishu Toshogu is by the founder of the Osafune school, bearing a paulownia crest rather than the Tokugawa hollyhock, of Kamakura date.
The tachi signed Moriie at Kishu Toshogu, a finest work of this Bizen smith, descended through the Kii Tokugawa and is an Important Cultural Property.
Held by Kishu Toshogu, the tachi signed Yasutsuna is among Japan's oldest signed blades. Forged in Heian-period Hoki, it is an Important Cultural Property.
An Important Cultural Property at Kishū Tōshōgū: a slender 72-centimeter tachi by the late-Kamakura Kyoto master Rai Kunitoshi, with a calm straight temper line.
A Kamakura short sword signed Kunimitsu, held by Kongobu-ji on Koyasan and designated in 1913. By tradition its maker is Shintogo Kunimitsu, founder of Soshu work.
A Kamakura short sword signed Rai Kunimitsu at Hirohachiman Shrine in Hirogawa, town of the rice-sheaf tsunami legend. A Kyoto Rai-school work designated in 1950.
A Heian handscroll at Ryuko-in on Koyasan: an annotated Sutra for Humane Kings, a state-protection scripture, designated an Important Cultural Property in 1930.
An iron kettle at Kumano Hongu Taisha cast with the date 1198, used in the yudate rite. It is among Japan's oldest dated kettles, from the early Kamakura era.
A bronze five-pronged vajra bell at Shochi-in on Koyasan, made in Tang China and designated in 1928. An esoteric Buddhist implement, paired with a vajra in ritual.
A Muromachi bronze bell at Kongobuji on Mount Koya, cast on the Buddha's birthday in 1504 and re-inscribed in 1572. An Important Cultural Property at the Reihokan.
A Kamakura bronze bell owned by Kongobuji on Mount Koya, with a cast inscription dating it to 1280. A securely dated example shown by rotation at the Reihokan.
A 1210 bronze bell at Kongo Sanmaiin, Mount Koya, ringed with deity names and nine Sanskrit mantras. A rare Important Cultural Property, unrung in its gate-tower.
A burial assemblage placing a lay devotee's bones near Kūkai's mausoleum at Okunoin in 1287, with a gilt-bronze pagoda and a cast bronze triad found in the earth.