Muromachi

A herdboy rides his ox home through falling snow in Li Di's Returning Herd in Snow, a Southern Song National Treasure kept at Nara's Yamato Bunkakan museum.

Kikō-ji's main hall in Nara, said to have modeled Tōdai-ji's Great Buddha Hall, is a tiered Muromachi rebuilding of 1544 housing a late-Heian seated Amida triad.

Built in 1494 inside the Hōryū-ji precinct, Kitamuro-in's main hall is a small three-bay sub-temple chapel roofed in cypress bark, with an Amida triad inside.

Dated 1463 by an inscription on its central pillar, Kichiden-ji's tahoto in Ikaruga is Nara's oldest surviving two-storied pagoda, with a hidden Dainichi inside.

The Niōmon of Kinpusenji Temple in Yoshinoyama, Nara, is a towering two-story medieval gateway rebuilt in 1456. Standing over 20 meters tall, it is one of Japan's largest temple gates, designated a National Treasure and a core component of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range." Uniquely, it faces north—the opposite direction of the main hall—to welcome pilgrims arriving from Kyoto and Osaka toward the sacred mountains. The gate is currently undergoing its first major restoration in seventy years, with completion scheduled for fiscal year 2028.

The Main Hall of Koizumi Shrine in Yamatokoriyama, Nara Prefecture, is a designated Important Cultural Property dating from the late Muromachi period. Built in the one-bay Kasuga style with a cypress bark roof and vivid polychrome decoration, it features rare architectural elements such as boat-shaped bracket arms and freestanding railings. Originally founded as the tutelary shrine of the medieval Koizumi warrior clan, it offers an intimate glimpse of Japanese shrine architecture alongside nearby attractions like Jikō-in Temple and Koizumi Castle ruins.

Kofuku-ji's Five-Storied Pagoda in Nara, founded in 730 by Empress Komyo, is a National Treasure and the second-tallest wooden pagoda in Japan at 50.9 meters. The current 1426 structure is a symbol of the ancient capital, now undergoing a major restoration from 2022 to 2034.

Standing within the Kōfuku-ji precincts in Nara, the Tōkondō (Eastern Golden Hall) was originally founded in 726 by Emperor Shōmu as a prayer for the recovery of his aunt, the retired Empress Genshō. The present hall was rebuilt in 1415 in a deliberate revival of the eighth-century Tenpyō style, modeled on the Kondō of Tōshōdai-ji, and was designated a National Treasure in 1952. Its interior houses an extraordinary assembly of Buddhist sculptures—including the National Treasure statues of Yuima Koji, Monju Bosatsu, the Twelve Heavenly Generals, and the Four Heavenly Kings, along with the Important Cultural Property Yakushi Triad—making it one of the most richly endowed halls in the World Heritage Site of Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.

Built in 1572 and dated by its ridge tablets, the main hall of Takayama Hachimangu in Nara is a nagare-zukuri shrine named an Important Cultural Property in 1978.

Built in 1499 and designated in 1907, this vermilion Kasuga-style hall stands on the Yamato highlands, where the watershed divides two of Nara's river systems.

The Main Hall of Tenjinsha Shrine in Kitano, Yamazoe Village, is a compact single-bay Kasuga-style structure built during the middle Muromachi period (around the Oei era, late 14th to mid-15th century). Designated a National Important Cultural Property in 1923, this quiet village shrine in the Yamato Highlands preserves the disciplined craftsmanship of medieval Japanese shrine architecture. It makes a rewarding cultural detour alongside Mt. Konosan, Kono-ji Temple, and the striking Nabekura-kei rock stream.

The main hall of Tennō Shrine in Bizen-chō, Tenri City, Nara Prefecture, is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property built in 1396 during the early Muromachi period. Constructed in the elegant kasuga-zukuri style at the behest of a traveling monk named Raishū, this vermilion-painted, cypress-bark-roofed shrine preserves both its original ridge plaque and four syncretic Buddhist-Shinto deity images, offering a rare glimpse into pre-modern Japan's intertwined religious traditions.

The Ōyuya behind Nigatsu-do is Todai-ji's monastery bathhouse. Rebuilt by Chōgen and overhauled in 1408, it keeps a medieval iron tub and furnace for steam bathing.

Niu Shrine Main Hall in eastern Nara is a one-bay Kasuga-style hall roofed in cypress bark, dated by inscription to 1442, a rare Muromachi example near Enjo-ji.

Hakusan Shrine Main Hall at Abe Monjuin, Nara, is a small late-Muromachi nagare-zukuri hall and Important Cultural Property, now visited as a matchmaking shrine.

Hitomaro Shrine Main Hall in Kashihara, Nara, is a single-bay kasuga-zukuri sanctuary of 1345 honoring the poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, dated by a ridge-beam text.

Fukiji Main Hall in Kawanishi, Nara, is a hipped-roof Buddhist hall rebuilt in 1388 per a 1679 inscription. It adjoins Mutsugata Shrine and holds a Heian Shaka.

Hidden in a quiet northern neighbourhood of Nara near the ancient Heijō Palace site, Futai-ji Temple — affectionately known as 'Narihira-dera' after the celebrated poet Ariwara no Narihira — preserves a nationally designated Important Cultural Property: its late Kamakura-period Main Hall. A rare architectural survivor combining the ancient three-bay four-sided plan with medieval interior division and one of the earliest curved head-tie beams, the hall enshrines the beloved ribbon-crowned Shōkannon and a complete set of the Five Wisdom Kings. Discover its history, highlights, and a perfect walking route along the historic Saho-ji road.

The Main Hall of Fudoin in Hongo-cho, Yamato-Takada City, Nara Prefecture, is a late Muromachi-period Buddhist hall built in 1483 by Taima Tamenaga, lord of Takada Castle. Its five-bay-square plan, hipped roof, and traditional Japanese tile roof preserve a classic medieval temple form. Designated a national Important Cultural Property in 1925, it is the only such property within Yamato-Takada City. The enshrined Dainichi Nyorai statue, also a nationally designated Important Cultural Property, is a fine example of late Heian sculpture. Famous locally for its hydrangeas and just a few minutes' walk from Takada Station.

Hokakuji Byoto, a granite pagoda 268 cm tall, was raised on Mount Hyakkai in 1369 for the Shugendo master Sho-bo. Its carving copies wooden pagodas now lost.