Edo

The Main Hall of Tenkyūin, a sub-temple of Myōshin-ji in Kyoto, is a quintessential example of early Edo-period Zen hōjō architecture, designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan since 1922. Its interior houses 152 panels of stunning gold-leaf barrier paintings by Kanō school masters Sanraku and Sansetsu — a rare and magnificent sight within a Zen temple. Discover this normally closed treasure of Japanese cultural heritage.

Lining Horikawa Avenue at Nishi Hongan-ji in Kyoto, the six structures — the Sōmon, Goeidō-mon, Chōzusho, Amidadō-mon, Kyōzō, and Korō — were designated Important Cultural Properties in 2014. From the 1677 Sutra Repository with its Arita-tile-lined revolving cabinet to the lavishly carved four-legged gates, this ensemble showcases Edo-period craftsmanship at one of Japan's most important Buddhist head temples.

Explore Hongan-ji Amida-do, a National Treasure and UNESCO World Heritage hall at Nishi Honganji in Kyoto. Discover its stunning Edo-period architecture, golden inner sanctuary, and spiritual heritage—just 15 minutes from Kyoto Station.

The Honganji Goeidō (Founder's Hall) at Nishi Honganji Temple in Kyoto is a National Treasure rebuilt in 1636. Measuring 62m × 48m with a height of 29m, it ranks among the largest surviving Edo-period wooden structures in Japan. With its 441-tatami outer hall, golden inner sanctuary, and advanced early 17th-century construction techniques, the hall stands as the crowning achievement of Jōdo Shinshū temple architecture and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Discover the Honganji Shoin at Nishi Honganji Temple in Kyoto — a National Treasure and masterpiece of Momoyama-period shoin-zukuri architecture. Explore the magnificent 203-tatami Taimensho, resplendent gold-leaf screen paintings by Watanabe Ryokei, intricately carved transoms, and the celebrated Kokei dry landscape garden.

Built in 1856, this two-story hall at Kyoto's Mibu-dera holds an upper stage made for the silent masked Mibu Kyogen, with a jump-in where demons vanish from sight.

Discover the Tahōtō Pagoda at Yoshimine-dera Temple in Kyoto — an Important Cultural Property dating from 1621. Explore its elegant architecture, Buddhist significance, and the breathtaking mountain temple that houses it.

Discover Ryōkōin Shoin, a National Treasure study hall within Kyoto's Daitoku-ji Temple complex, home to the legendary Mittan tea room by Kobori Enshū and one of only three Yōhen Tenmoku tea bowls in existence.

Once the main hall of Amino Shrine, this 1782 building is the oldest here. Reborn in 1925 as Koori Shrine, its cypress-bark hall carries lavish Edo-period carving.

Anrakuji's Shoin, a late-Edo hall registered in 2003, faces a clipped-azalea dry garden with the Higashiyama hills as borrowed scenery near the Philosopher's Path.

The Main Hall of Anrakuji, just east of Kyoto's Philosopher's Path, is a Late Edo-period Pure Land hall registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2003. Built to memorialize the priests Junren and Anraku, it is open only during seasonal cherry-blossom, azalea, and autumn-foliage viewings.

North of the Wakamiya-sha, at the end of a row of small halls, the Hiyoshi-sha is a late-Edo shelf shrine of just 1.6 sq m, the smallest of Imamiya's buildings.

At the southeast corner of the Imamiya precinct, the Munakata-sha of about 1694 stands on a cut-stone base carved with a catfish, a tiny hall of varied joinery.

Facing the Wakamiya-sha Honden, this one-bay-square worship hall of 1694 takes the open dance-hall form on four pillars, from the Genroku restoration.

A subsidiary hall distinct from the main Honden, the Wakamiya-sha Honden of 1694 sets kasuga-style roofs side by side, joined at the ridge in a rare linked form.

A gate before the Wakamiya-sha Honden and a 26-metre openwork fence around it, both built in 1694, mark the sacred precinct with a gate and diamond lattice.

Built in 1703 as the entrance to a Kyoto monzeki residence, this Edo-period yakui-mon gate now welcomes guests at Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto, opposite Nijō Castle.

The Tenmei Storehouse is an Edo-period two-story earthen sake warehouse standing on Sakai-machi Street in central Kyoto, within the birthplace of the renowned Kinshi Masamune sake brand founded in 1781. Featuring an archaic ridge-supporting post (munamochi-bashira) construction, it is registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property. Together with the main residence and archive storehouse, it forms a rare surviving ensemble of an urban sake brewer's compound in the heart of Kyoto.

Built in 1820 on the grounds of Kinshi Masamune's founding estate in central Kyoto, the Bunko-gura is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan. This compact, two-story earthen-walled storehouse preserves its original Edo-period form in excellent condition, standing as part of a rare surviving sake brewer's residence alongside the famed Momo no I natural spring.

The main two-storey gate of Kōshō-ji on Kyoto's Horikawa-dōri. Built around 1915, this three-bay tower gate is known for its peony carving and was registered in 2025.