National Treasure

A Daigo-ji National Treasure: a Shingon transmission scroll Emperor Go-Daigo copied by hand in 1339, two months before his death, on gold-decorated burnished paper.

The diary of Heian regent Fujiwara no Moromichi, kept until days before his death in 1099. One autograph scroll and 29 twelfth-century copies survive at Yomei Bunko.

Kyoto's Reizei family keeps the only Korai Futeisho in Fujiwara no Shunzei's own hand: the 1197 first version of his poetic treatise, written at eighty-four.

Discover the Diamond Sutra (Kongō-kyō) by Zhang Jizhi, a National Treasure of Japan housed at Chishaku-in Temple in Kyoto. This 1253 masterpiece of Southern Song calligraphy represents one of the finest examples of Chinese brushwork preserved in Japan.

Discover the Gilt-bronze Lotus Flower Pattern Kei (Kondō Renge-mon Kei), a National Treasure of Japan housed at Zenrinji Temple (Eikando) in Kyoto. This exquisite Heian-period Buddhist percussion instrument showcases the pinnacle of Japanese bronze casting and gilt metalwork.

Discover the Sanjūrokunin Kashū, a 12th-century National Treasure housed at Nishi Hongan-ji in Kyoto. This illuminated anthology of Japan's Thirty-Six Immortal Poets features the world's oldest known paper collage techniques, exquisite calligraphy by 20 court scribes, and lavish gold-and-silver decorated papers that represent the pinnacle of Heian-period aristocratic culture.

Ryogen wrote this testament in 972 while ill, naming the Mount Hiei halls and estates left to his disciple Jinzen. A National Treasure at the Tokyo National Museum.

Two silk scrolls in the hand of Jikusen Bonsen, a Chan monk who left Yuan China in 1329, written for a Zen abbot's installation. Held at closed Ryoko-in in Kyoto.

At Kyoto's Tō-ji, this Heian-period palanquin carried the Buddha's relics in procession. Its lacquer imitates rosewood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and gilt bronze.

The National Treasure 'Portrait of Monk Myōe' held at Kōzan-ji temple in Kyoto is a uniquely unconventional portrait from the Kamakura period, depicting the revered Kegon Buddhist monk Myōe Shōnin meditating atop a pine tree deep in the mountains. Attributed to his disciple Enichi-bō Jōnin, this 13th-century masterpiece is celebrated for its innovative composition that places the human figure small within a dominant natural landscape, and for its stylistic connections to Song-dynasty Chinese painting.

Discover the Shūi Gusō, the only known autograph self-compiled poetry anthology from medieval Japan, handwritten by the legendary poet Fujiwara no Teika. This National Treasure is preserved by the Reizei family in Kyoto.

Discover the Chunqiu Jingzhuan Jijie Volume 2 Fragment, a rare Tang dynasty manuscript and National Treasure housed at the Yūrinkan Museum in Kyoto. Learn about its history, significance, and how to visit.

Discover the Jōgū Shōtoku Hōō Teisetsu, the oldest surviving biography of Prince Shōtoku, designated as a National Treasure of Japan. This precious Heian-period manuscript is held at Chion-in Temple in Kyoto's Higashiyama district.

Held at Ninnaji Temple in Kyoto, these five National Treasure scrolls preserve the Xinxiu Bencao — the world's first state-compiled pharmacopoeia, ordered by Emperor Gaozong of Tang China in 659 CE. Copied in early-Kamakura-period Japan, they are among the oldest surviving witnesses to this foundational text, whose original Chinese manuscripts have long since been lost.

This National Treasure at the Kyoto National Museum is the oldest surviving copy of the Chinese classic Shishuo Xinyu, in seventh-century Tang regular script.

Discover the National Treasure "Zen'in Gakuji narabini Haiji" at Tōfuku-ji Temple in Kyoto—19 masterful calligraphy scrolls by Wuzhun Shifan and Zhang Jizhi from 13th-century Southern Song China, representing the finest surviving examples of Zen temple signboard calligraphy.

Shunjo wrote this 1219 appeal to fund Sennyu-ji's rebuilding. The National Treasure scroll bears Song-style running script on paper with auspicious birds.

Twelve Southern Song volumes at Kyoto's Tofuku-ji form the Gisho Rokujo, a 10th-century Buddhist encyclopedia and the only known Song printing of the text.

This National Treasure is a handscroll containing a preface written by Emperor Gaozong (1107–1187), the founder of China's Southern Song dynasty, for the collected literary works of his father, Emperor Huizong — the last ruler of the Northern Song. Penned in 1154, this exceptionally rare example of imperial calligraphy is both a masterwork of brush art and a poignant tribute from a son to a father lost in the upheaval of the Jingkang Incident. The scroll also bears colophons by renowned scholars including Hu Sanxing and Wen Zhengming, and is deposited at the Kyoto National Museum.

Discover the extraordinary National Treasure deposited items found inside the Shaka Nyorai statue at Seiryō-ji Temple in Kyoto. From silk internal organs to Buddhist scriptures, these 10th-century artifacts offer a rare glimpse into Song-dynasty faith and medicine.