Important Cultural Property of Nara

Built in 1727 as Kasuga Taisha's fourth sanctuary and moved to this Yagyu village shrine in 1747, this one-bay kasuga-zukuri hall can be viewed at close range.

Yakushi-ji's South Gate, built in 1512, began as the West Precinct gate, moved onto the stones of the lost Great South Gate, fronting the Hakuho precinct.

South of Yakushi-ji stands the Wakamiya-sha, a single-bay Kasuga-style shrine in cypress bark and the precinct's oldest building, from the late Kamakura period.

In the hills of eastern Nara, the small main hall of Yasaka Shrine wears a rare roof of thick boards laid in overlapping tiers, a late-Muromachi nagare-zukuri.

An Important Cultural Property on Mount Yoshino, Yoshimizu Shrine Shoin shows an early form of shoin-zukuri and is tied to Yoshitsune and Emperor Go-Daigo.

Discover the Important Cultural Property stone hoto at Raigoji Temple in Nara's Tsuge highlands, a masterwork of Kamakura-period stone carving dating to 1310, surrounded by ancient gorinto stupas and serene rural scenery.

Built in 1627 in the Hōryū-ji precinct, the Ritsugakuin Hondō mirrors the nearby Shōryōin. This Important Cultural Property enshrines an image of Prince Shōtoku.

The Three-Story Pagoda at Ryōsenji Temple in western Nara is a designated Important Cultural Property of Japan, built around 1283–1284 during the Kamakura period in the pure Japanese (Wayō) architectural style. Standing 17 meters tall with elegant cypress-bark roofing, the pagoda is renowned for its remarkably well-preserved polychrome murals inside the first story—including paintings of the Five Great Wisdom Kings and a Nirvana scene—which are also designated as Important Cultural Properties. The interior is opened to the public just once a year, on November 3rd.

Discover the bell tower (Shōrō) of Ryōsenji Temple in Nara, an Important Cultural Property from the early Muromachi period, featuring elegant hakama-goshi architecture and a historically significant temple bell cast in 1644.

The main hall of Renchoji, a Nichiren Buddhist temple in Nara's Aburasaka-cho, is an Important Cultural Property of Japan believed to have been originally built by Toyotomi Hidenaga and relocated here in 1653. Its open-front corridor features magnificent polychrome ceiling paintings of celestial maidens, dragons, phoenixes, and kalavinka. Just a 4-minute walk from Kintetsu Nara Station, this hidden gem offers free admission in a tranquil setting.

The main hall of Wanishita Shrine in Tenri City, Nara Prefecture, is an Important Cultural Property from the Momoyama period, uniquely situated atop an ancient keyhole-shaped burial mound. Founded as the tutelary shrine of the Wani clan, the site also neighbors the ruins of Kakinomoto-dera temple linked to the legendary poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. Its elegant gabled cypress-bark roof and vivid polychrome carvings make it a hidden gem of Japanese shrine architecture.

An Important Cultural Property preserved at Kōfuku-ji in Nara, this Kamakura-period silk hanging scroll depicts two of the Four Heavenly Kings — the surviving half of an originally complete set of four. Painted by artists associated with the Nanto Edokoro workshop during the temple's restoration after the burning of Nara in 1180, it consciously revives Nara-period iconography while showing the emerging realism of the new Kamakura style. Normally not on view, it is shown only during special exhibitions.

Held by Hōryū-ji in Nara, the Important Cultural Property Star Mandala on Silk is a rare Heian-period four-court circular mandala. With Shaka Kinrin at its center surrounded by the Big Dipper, Nine Luminaries, twelve zodiac signs and twenty-eight lunar mansions, it is a cosmic map where Indian, Chinese and even Greek-Babylonian astronomical traditions meet on a single piece of silk.

An Important Cultural Property of Japan, this set of five wooden statues — a standing Thousand-Armed Kannon flanked by four Heavenly Kings, all enshrined in their original Kasuga-style shrine — has been preserved in the Senjudō hall of Tōdai-ji's Kaidan-in compound in Nara. Created around 1269 in conjunction with the founding of the hall by the Vinaya master Enshō, the statues are widely recognised as a leading example of the Zen-pa school of Kamakura-period sculptors. Treated as hidden Buddhas from the Muromachi period onwards, they retain their original gilding, cut-gold patterns, and bronze accessories in remarkable condition.

Preserved at Shōryaku-ji in the wooded hills of Nara, the Ekottarika-āgama Volume 30, known as the Zenkō Vermilion Seal Sutra, is an Important Cultural Property dating to around 759 CE. One of about thirty surviving scrolls from a canon-copying project sponsored by the nun Zenkō of Hokke-ji, it preserves both eighth-century calligraphy at its finest and detailed colophons that document Nara-period sutra production. This article also introduces Shōryaku-ji's millennium of history, its famed maple-lined valley, and its heritage as the birthplace of refined sake brewing in Japan.

Discover the Nihon Kanreiroku-shō, a precious 1147 manuscript preserved at the Sakamoto Ryūmon Bunko in Yoshino, Nara. This Important Cultural Property is the only surviving copy of an early Heian Buddhist tale collection compiled by the Gangō-ji monk Gishō, offering rare glimpses into Japan's vanished setsuwa literature.

Discover the Haniwa Ushi, a nationally Important Cultural Property displayed at Karako-Kagi Archaeological Museum in Tawaramoto, Nara. Excavated in 1897 from Hagoda Tomb No. 1, this rare 6th-century cow-shaped haniwa is one of fewer than ten such examples ever found in Japan.