Momoyama

Discover the Niomon Gate of Oka-dera Temple in Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture—a designated Important Cultural Property built in 1612 with recycled materials from a medieval pagoda. Learn about its history, architecture, and dragon legend.

Towering over the cherry-covered ridge of Yoshino-yama in Nara, Kinpusen-ji's Main Hall (Zao-do) is Japan's second-largest wooden historic structure at roughly 34 meters tall. As the head temple of Shugendo mountain asceticism, it enshrines three colossal hidden statues of Zao Gongen and is registered as both a National Treasure and a UNESCO World Heritage core asset of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. Discover its Momoyama-era architecture, sacred interior, and spiritual significance.

Denkōji is a Ritsu-sect temple in central Nara, restored in 1585 as a memorial to the warlord Tsutsui Junkei. Its Main Hall is designated an Important Cultural Property as a rare example of Momoyama-period Buddhist architecture. The temple is also renowned for its Kamakura-era 'Naked Jizō' statue and one of Nara's Three Famous Camellias.

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.