National Treasures of Kyoto

Nine Heian Amida Buddhas in a row in the main hall of Joruriji in Kizugawa, Kyoto, the only surviving nine-Buddha Amida hall, with a door for each figure.

Fifty-two bodhisattvas riding clouds, made in 1053 by Jocho's workshop for the Phoenix Hall of Byodoin in Uji; half are shown in the temple's Hoshokan museum.

The seated Kukai enshrined in Toji's Mieido, made by Unkei's son Kosho in 1233; the source of later images of Kobo Daishi and a National Treasure since 2000.

A ninth-century statue of Kokuzo carved from a single block of torreya at Daigoji, Kyoto, a National Treasure since 2015 and a masterpiece of early Heian sculpture.

Discover the National Treasure Five Great Kokūzō Bodhisattva statues at Jingoji Temple in Kyoto. Commissioned by Emperor Ninmyō and crafted under Kūkai's disciple Shinzei in the 9th century, these five color-coded seated figures are the oldest complete set of their kind in Japan, open to the public only a few days each year.

Heian seated bodhisattvas in the lecture hall of Toji, Kyoto, part of Kukai's three-dimensional mandala and a National Treasure since 1954.

Five Heian statues of the Great Myoo in the lecture hall of Toji, Kyoto, part of Kukai's three-dimensional mandala and a National Treasure since 1952.

The Heian Four Heavenly Kings in the lecture hall of Toji, Kyoto, guarding Kukai's three-dimensional mandala; a National Treasure since 1954.

The late Heian Four Heavenly Kings in the Amida hall of Joruriji, Kizugawa, a National Treasure since 1953; Tamonten is thought to have been made first.

Seiryo-ji's National Treasure Shaka was carved in Song China in 985 and brought to Japan by the monk Chonen. Inside lay silk organs, among the oldest known.

The principal image of Rokuharamitsuji, Kyoto, made for Kuya around 951, a benchmark of tenth-century sculpture and a National Treasure since 1999.

The National Treasure Wooden Standing Statues of the Twelve Divine Generals at Kōryū-ji Temple in Kyoto are Japan's oldest surviving wooden examples of these iconic Buddhist guardian sculptures. Created in 1064 by Chōsei, a disciple of the legendary sculptor Jōchō, these twelve armored warriors protecting the Medicine Buddha showcase the refined artistry of mid-Heian period woodcarving. Experience them up close without glass cases in Kyoto's oldest temple.

Two Heian goddesses enshrined with a monk-form Hachiman in Toji's guardian shrine in Kyoto, said to be carved by Kukai and called Japan's oldest Shinto sculptures.

The principal Thousand-Armed Kannon at the centre of Sanjusangendo in Kyoto, made by Unkei's son Tankei in 1251 to 1254 and flanked by a thousand standing Kannon.

Sanjusangen-do's 1,001 standing Thousand-Armed Kannon include 124 Heian figures saved from the 1249 fire. The full set became a National Treasure in 2018.

A ninth-century National Treasure at Koryu-ji, this 266 cm Thousand-Armed Kannon was carved from a single cypress block and shows eleven faces and forty arms.

Near Tofuku-ji in Kyoto, Hosho-ji keeps a National Treasure Senju Kannon of the tenth century, cut from one cherry block, bearing some twenty-seven faces.

At Kyoto's To-ji, the seated image of Hachiman as a Buddhist monk is among Japan's oldest surviving Shinto deity sculptures, a record of how the two faiths merged.

A Heian National Treasure, the wooden canopy of Tō-ji hangs above a secret Fudō Myōō in the Mieidō. Unseen by the public, it is one of few ranked as sculpture.

Over the gilded Amida in Byodo-in's Phoenix Hall hangs a 1053 National Treasure: a shell-inlaid black-lacquer square canopy holding an openwork floral round canopy.