Important Cultural Property of Kyoto

A granite five-ringed stupa of the late Kamakura period at Gansen-ji, in the Tono hills of southern Kyoto. Its lotus-petal base marks the regional Yamato style.

Gansen-ji's vermilion three-storied pagoda in Kizugawa, Kyoto, dates to 1442. This Important Cultural Property is loved for the carved goblins shouldering its eaves.

A granite thirteen-story pagoda at Gansenji in Kyoto, traditionally dated to 1314, its lowest tier carved with seed syllables of the four Diamond-Realm Buddhas.

Discover the Gansenji Stone Chamber (Sekishitsu), an Important Cultural Property from 1312 in Kizugawa, Kyoto. This rare granite shrine houses a carved Fudō Myōō relief and stands in the serene Tōno no Sato, a hidden Buddhist heritage area near Nara.

This square, thatched, hipped Kannon hall at Shimo-Awano in Kyōtamba was raised before 1539. Ridge tablets fix its date; it is an Important Cultural Property.

Discover the Hongwanji Dendoin, an Important Cultural Property in Kyoto designed by legendary architect Ito Chuta in 1912. This red-brick treasure near Nishi Hongwanji blends Islamic domes, British brickwork, and Japanese design into one extraordinary building.

At Kyoto's Tō-ji, the East Great Gate has stayed shut for centuries. Called the Akazu-mon, it was barred by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336 and still bears arrow marks.

To-ji's widest gate was not built for it. Raised in 1601 as Sanjusangen-do's west gate by Toyotomi Hideyori, it moved here in 1895, an Important Cultural Property.

Behind Tō-ji's lecture hall sits a windowless azekura log storehouse. Dismantling revealed late-Heian timbers, making it the temple's oldest surviving building.

Standing on the windswept northernmost cliff of the Tango Peninsula in Kyoto Prefecture, Kyōgamisaki Lighthouse is a working Meiji-era stone tower first lit on December 25, 1898. It is one of only five "first-order" lighthouses in Japan, and its original French-made Fresnel lens and pioneering mercury-bath rotation mechanism are still in operation today. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 2022, it stands amid the columnar basalt cliffs of the San'in Kaigan UNESCO Global Geopark and offers visitors one of the most dramatic coastal landscapes in western Japan.

Completed in 1921 and designed by Ministry of Communications architect Iwamoto Roku, this former telephone exchange in Kyoto's Nishijin district features a strikingly original façade akin to German Expressionism. Designated an Important Cultural Property as the sole surviving work of the brilliantly gifted architect who died at 29, the building now serves as a coworking and innovation space.

The Holy Annunciation Cathedral of Kyoto Orthodox Church, located in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, is Japan's oldest surviving full-scale wooden Orthodox cathedral, completed in 1903. Designed by Shigemitsu Matsumuro based on Russian Holy Synod approved plans, this Russian-Byzantine style building houses a magnificent iconostasis with 30 sacred icons crafted in Moscow during the late Russian Imperial period. Designated as a national Important Cultural Property in 2022.

Built in 1904 near the Kyoto Imperial Palace, this brick Renaissance hall still holds government offices, reputedly Japan's oldest such building in active use.

Myōshin-ji's oldest subtemple holds the Kaisandō, or Mishōan, a mid-Muromachi Zen-style hall moved from Tōfuku-ji in 1537 to honor its founder, Kanzan Egen.

At Gyokuhōin, Myōshin-ji's oldest sub-temple, a cypress-bark gate fronts the founder's hall. Tradition dates it to 1409, among Japan's oldest surviving karamon.

The Hondo of Gyokurin-in, a sub-temple of Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, is an Important Cultural Property built in 1621. Founded by the renowned imperial physician Manase Shōrin, it features a grand eight-room hōjō layout and fusuma paintings by Kano Tan'yū and his school.

Discover the Otamaya at Kodaiji Temple in Kyoto, an Important Cultural Property built in 1605. Marvel at the stunning Kodaiji Makie lacquerware, explore the mausoleum of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and his wife Nene, and experience the splendor of Momoyama-period art and architecture.

Discover Koubai-in Main Hall, an Important Cultural Property within Kyoto's Myoshin-ji Temple complex. Built in 1604, this exquisite Zen hojo-style hall features a karesansui garden, historic fusuma paintings, and deep ties to the reviver of one of Japan's greatest Zen temples.

Discover Sagara Shrine Main Hall (Saganaka Jinja Honden), an Important Cultural Property from the early Muromachi period in Kizugawa City, Kyoto. Explore its exquisite Nagare-zukuri architecture, ancient rituals, and timeless beauty.

The Main Hall of Saguri Shrine in Kumiyama Town, Kyoto, is an Important Cultural Property built in 1494 during the late Muromachi period. This three-bay flowing-style structure with a cypress bark roof features exquisite carvings of flowers, birds, deer, and squirrels among grapevines, and its brilliant polychrome decoration was restored in the 1980s to reveal the dazzling colors of medieval shrine architecture.