Kamakura

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.