Edo

Built in 1621 by Tokugawa Hidetada beside Chion-in’s great gate, this Important Cultural Property houses an octagonal cabinet holding a Song-edition Buddhist canon.

Discover the Sanmon Gate of Chion-in Temple in Kyoto, a National Treasure and the largest wooden temple gate in Japan. Standing 24 meters tall and 50 meters wide, this 1621 masterpiece features stunning polychrome paintings and Buddhist statuary inside its upper story.

Chion-in's Great Bell Tower, built in 1678, holds a 70-ton bronze bell cast in 1636, one of Japan's three great bells, rung each New Year's Eve by seventeen monks.

Discover Chion-in's Miei-do, a National Treasure built in 1639 by the Tokugawa shogunate. Explore the grand hall honoring Honen Shonin, its Seven Wonders, and the heart of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism in Kyoto's Higashiyama district.

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.

Built in 1628 at Konchi-in, this is called Kyoto's only surviving gongen-zukuri shrine. A dragon attributed to Kano Tanyu covers the worship hall ceiling.

An early Edo shoin at Fushimi Inari Taisha, said to have been granted by a retired emperor in 1641 and moved from the palace. Listed in 1927 and normally closed.

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 Yukinaga Family Residence in Maizuru, Kyoto — an Important Cultural Property built in 1825. This beautifully preserved farmhouse reveals Edo-period rural architecture with its transitional floor plan, bamboo slat ceilings, and magnificent beam work, open to visitors twice a year.

Founded in 1594 and rebuilt in 1621, Yogen-in keeps Fushimi Castle floorboards overhead and Sotatsu's painted cedar doors. Four of its buildings were listed in 2016.

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.

Built in 1807 at Shichiku in northern Kyoto, the Araki Family Residence main house keeps its roof monitor, earth-floored passage and street-facing front garden.

Behind the Araki Family Residence in northern Kyoto stands a late Edo storehouse of sixteen square metres, its roof set on posts that carry purlins without beams.

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.