Meiji
Kyoto · 明治Browse Kyoto’s cultural heritage from the Meiji period (1868 – 1912). Filter by type and keyword, with concise stories, maps, and travel tips.
South of the Raku potters' gate in Kyoto, a 3.0 square metre shelter where guests' attendants once waited, with a bench and a lattice window. Registered in 2007.
North-west of the Raku family's main house in Kyoto, a two-storey plastered storehouse with an Inari shrine built into its eave and the kiln house against its wall.
The Japanese-style wing of Rakurakuso in Kameoka, Kyoto, of about 1898, held the rooms of Tanaka Gentaro and his wife, each with finely crafted alcoves and shelves.
The Western-style building of Rakurakuso in Kameoka, Kyoto, a brick house of about 1898 built by Shimizu-gumi for Tanaka Gentaro, has verandas and fine fireplaces.
On Shinmachi-dōri south of Nishi Hongan-ji, this Meiji-era machiya pairs three lattice patterns on its façade with an inner courtyard. Registered in 2008.
Behind the Raku potters' main house in Kyoto, a tiny sukiya building pairs a 3-mat tea room with a family altar room on round-log posts. Registered 2007; private.
Discover the National Treasure bokuseki calligraphy by Chinese Chan master Xutang Zhiyu, preserved at Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto. Learn about its Zen heritage, tea ceremony significance, and how to view this masterpiece.
Japan's oldest surviving electric tram (1911), from its first public electric railway. Now an Important Cultural Property freely viewable at Heian Shrine.
A National Treasure of Shōjōke-in, Kyoto: a Southern Song Amida triad in three signed scrolls by the Ningbo painter Fuetsu, now held at the Kyoto National Museum.
Ninna-ji's National Treasure Kujaku Myōō, a Song-dynasty Chinese painting, shows the Peacock Wisdom King with three faces and six arms on a white peacock.
Two Southern Song scrolls at Kyoto's Konchi-in, the Autumn and Winter Landscapes are a National Treasure once owned by the Ashikaga shoguns and ascribed to Huizong.
Two Southern Song ink landscapes attributed to Li Tang at Kotoin, Daitokuji, Kyoto, a National Treasure since 1952; the temple is closed in 2026.
Discover Muqi's "Kannon, Monkeys and Cranes" — a 13th-century Southern Song masterpiece and one of Japan's most revered National Treasures, held at Daitoku-ji in Kyoto. A cornerstone of the Ashikaga shogunate's Higashiyama Gyomotsu collection, this three-scroll ink painting will be a headline exhibit at the Tokyo National Museum's 2026 Daitoku-ji 700th anniversary exhibition.
Housed at Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, this National Treasure is a thirteenth-century hanging scroll by the Chinese Chan Buddhist monk-painter Muqi, depicting the White-Robed Kannon in ink and light color on silk. Once part of the Ashikaga shogunate's Higashiyama Gomotsu collection and bearing Yoshimitsu's Doyu seal, it forms the central panel of the famed Kannon, Gibbons, and Crane triptych and stands as a foundational model for Japanese ink painting. A full guide to its history, artistic significance, viewing opportunities, and access to Daitoku-ji.
Discover the Diamond Sutra (Kongō-kyō) by Zhang Jizhi, a National Treasure of Japan housed at Chishaku-in Temple in Kyoto. This 1253 masterpiece of Southern Song calligraphy represents one of the finest examples of Chinese brushwork preserved in Japan.
Nineteen Southern Song plaque inscriptions sent by Wuzhun Shifan to Enni, now at Tofukuji, Kyoto, a National Treasure since 1974.
Twelve Southern Song volumes at Kyoto's Tofuku-ji form the Gisho Rokujo, a 10th-century Buddhist encyclopedia and the only known Song printing of the text.
This National Treasure is a handscroll containing a preface written by Emperor Gaozong (1107–1187), the founder of China's Southern Song dynasty, for the collected literary works of his father, Emperor Huizong — the last ruler of the Northern Song. Penned in 1154, this exceptionally rare example of imperial calligraphy is both a masterwork of brush art and a poignant tribute from a son to a father lost in the upheaval of the Jingkang Incident. The scroll also bears colophons by renowned scholars including Hu Sanxing and Wen Zhengming, and is deposited at the Kyoto National Museum.
The objects, including silk internal organs, placed inside the Shaka statue Chonen brought from Song China to Seiryoji, Kyoto; a National Treasure since 1955.
A Southern Song Buddhist canon of 6,102 volumes printed in Fuzhou, held by Daigoji, Kyoto, said to have been donated by Chogen; a National Treasure since 2017.