Nara

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.

Discover the Chunqiu Jingzhuan Jijie Volume 2 Fragment, a rare Tang dynasty manuscript and National Treasure housed at the Yūrinkan Museum in Kyoto. Learn about its history, significance, and how to visit.

This National Treasure at the Kyoto National Museum is the oldest surviving copy of the Chinese classic Shishuo Xinyu, in seventh-century Tang regular script.

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.

Discover the Song Dynasty edition of Taiping Yulan, a 1,000-volume Chinese encyclopedia designated as a National Treasure of Japan. Preserved at Tofuku-ji Temple in Kyoto, these 103 surviving volumes date back to 1199 and represent one of the most important literary treasures connecting Japan and China.

Discover the National Treasure "Diamond Sutra Handwritten by Daikaku Zenji" at Ryōkōin temple in Kyoto's Daitoku-ji complex. This 13th-century Zen calligraphy masterpiece by Rankei Dōryū, founder of Kamakura's Kenchō-ji, represents one of the finest surviving examples of Song-dynasty brushwork in Japan.

Nearly 70,000 documents and sacred texts from the Nara to the Meiji period at Daigoji, Kyoto, a National Treasure since 2013.

Discover the Dailōtan-kyō Volume 3, a National Treasure Buddhist sutra copied in 673 CE during the Tang Dynasty. Housed at Chion-in temple in Kyoto, this ancient cosmological scripture offers a rare glimpse into early Buddhist manuscript culture.

Three documents of 780 to 785 on the ordination of Saicho, founder of Japanese Tendai, held by Raigoin in Ohara, Kyoto; a National Treasure since 1955.

The archives of Toji in Kyoto, 24,067 documents from the Nara to the early Edo period, held by Kyoto Prefecture; a National Treasure since 1997 and on the Memory of the World Register.

The gilt bronze Shaka of Kanimanji in Kizugawa, Kyoto, 2.4 metres high, a National Treasure since 1953 and comparable to the Yakushi of Yakushiji.