Kamakura

The Zen Room at Gangoji is an early Kamakura dormitory rebuilt with Nara-period timber. Learn to read its door-and-window facade, its windows and its old tiles.

The East Gate of Gangoji is a late Kamakura four-legged gate moved from Todaiji's Sainan'in around 1411, marking the moment the temple turned to face east.

Gangoji's Main Hall in Nara was rebuilt in 1244 from part of a Nara-period dormitory. See its east-facing gable, nenbutsu records carved in 1171 and ancient tiles.

Kudaraji's three-storied pagoda rises above rice fields in Koryo Town, Nara. Its late Kamakura design, 1675 finial, disputed founding legend, and how to get inside.

The Three-Storied Pagoda of Kofukuji in Nara, rebuilt soon after a fire of 1180, is a National Treasure of Heian grace with a thousand Buddhas painted inside.

The Northern Octagonal Hall of Kofukuji in Nara, rebuilt by 1210 on its plan of 721, is a National Treasure with rare three-layer eaves and hexagonal rafters.

A tiny one-bay hall of 1266 at Shin-Yakushiji in Nara, designated in 1917, with a tiled hip-and-gable roof turned gable-first to the front and three statues inside.

An early Kamakura belfry at Shin-Yakushiji, designated in 1898, whose lower storey is wrapped in a flared white-plaster skirt and whose bell is from the Tenpyo era.

The late Kamakura four-legged front gate of Shin-Yakushiji, designated in 1901, with a rough stone base and broad chamfered posts that look older than they are.

An early Kamakura two-post gate at Shin-Yakushiji in Nara, protected since 1917, whose split post heads hold flat board brackets in a rare early carpentry technique.

The Sogenji Temple Four-Legged Gate (Kangakuin Front Gate), built in 1237, is an early Kamakura sub-temple gate at Horyuji, dated to the year of the east cloister.

Taimadera's lecture hall in Nara, burned in 1180 and rebuilt in 1303: a long seven-bay hipped hall of the late Kamakura period that shelters Heian Buddhist statues.

Home of Taimadera's first main image, a 7th-century Miroku, this five-bay hip-and-gable hall was rebuilt in the early Kamakura period after 1180 and listed in 1899.

At the south edge of Tamukeyama Hachimangū, Tōdai-ji's guardian shrine since 749, this small late-Kamakura Sumiyoshi hall is an Important Cultural Property.

The Tanzan Shrine Manirin Stupa in Sakurai, Nara, is a stone monument of 1303 by the shrine approach, a tall shaft topped by a large carved disc, designated in 1955.

The main hall of Chokyuji in Ikoma, Nara, dated 1279 by its ridge beam, is a National Treasure and a masterpiece among Kamakura Japanese-style Buddhist halls.

Chofukuji Hondo in Ikoma, Nara, a late Kamakura hall designated in 1899, hid soot-blackened paintings recovered by infrared survey during its dismantling repair.

Todaiji's Founder's Hall for its first abbot Rōben: a pure Great Buddha-style core of 1200, enlarged in 1250, and the portrait statue shown only on 16 December.

Todaiji's Five-Ring Pagoda, an early Kamakura stone gorintō in Kawakamicho apart from the main precinct: how to read its form, what its date means and access notes.

Todaiji's Bell Tower, rebuilt by Eisai around 1207-1210: a Great Buddha-style frame with Zen touches carrying the 26.3-tonne founding-era bell, rung nightly at 8 pm.