Kamakura

Woven in Tang-dynasty China in a Persian style, this Hōryū-ji National Treasure silk shows four winged-horse riders turning to shoot lions inside beaded roundels.

At Toshodai-ji in Nara, the relics Ganjin carried from China rest in a glass jar atop a gilt-bronze turtle, a National Treasure shown only once a year, in October.

A tiny rock-crystal reliquary shaped as a five-element stupa, made to hold relics and sealed inside the gilt-bronze altar pagoda Eison built at Saidaiji in 1270.

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.

A National Treasure: a Southern Song edition of Ouyang Xiu's works, edited by Zhou Bida, once in the medieval Kanazawa Bunko library and nearly complete at Tenri.

Discover the Song Edition of Liu Mengde's Collected Works, a National Treasure held at Tenri University Library in Nara. Printed in 12th-century China, brought to Japan by Zen master Eisai, and once admired by shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, this rare printed book offers a remarkable glimpse into the literary exchange between Tang China and medieval Japan.

The Heart Sutra scroll of Hasedera Temple in Sakurai, Nara, is part of the National Treasure Hasedera-kyō, a Kamakura-period set of 34 decorated sutras. With gold and silver foil, molten gold boundary lines, crystal scroll rods, and brilliantly painted frontispieces, it is one of medieval Japan's supreme works of sacred art.

Discover the Muryōgi-kyō (Sutra of Innumerable Meanings), three exquisite scrolls from the Hase-dera Sutra set — a 34-scroll National Treasure produced in 13th-century Japan. Decorated with scattered gold and silver foil, gold-pigment ruled lines, crystal axles, and brilliantly painted frontispieces, these Kamakura-period scriptures embody the height of Japanese Buddhist art. We also guide you through the spiritual home of these treasures: the famous "Temple of Flowers," Hase-dera in Nara.

Discover the National Treasure Wooden Statues of the Four Heavenly Kings at Kōfuku-ji's Chū-kondō in Nara — towering, dynamic Kamakura-period guardians carved in katsura wood by the Kei school, now watching over the reconstructed Central Golden Hall.

The National Treasure Wooden Standing Statues of the Four Heavenly Kings at Kōfuku-ji's Nan'endō, sculpted in 1189 by the workshop of Kōkei (father of Unkei) for the hall's dedication ceremony. With rare iconography drawn from the Dharani-jikkyō sutra, they may be viewed only on October 17 each year.

A National Treasure enshrined at Yoshino Mikumari Shrine in Nara Prefecture, this seated wooden statue of Tamayorihime-no-Mikoto was created in 1251 by a Buddhist sculptor for the imperial patron Senyōmon'in. Its ink inscription gives the precise date, making it a rare dated example among Kamakura-period Shinto sculpture. Carved in joined-block cypress with inlaid crystal eyes, it portrays its subject as a refined court lady and is widely regarded as Japan's finest surviving goddess image. This guide introduces the statue and the World Heritage shrine that has sheltered it for centuries.

A detailed guide to the National Treasure Wooden Standing Statues of Tentōki and Ryūtōki, a pair of lantern-bearing demon figures carved by Kōben—third son of Unkei—in 1215 and displayed today in the Kokuhō-kan of Kōfuku-ji Temple in Nara.